Take Me Away
by Just a Supergirl
Summary: Rose and Scorpius meet at the World Cup when they're young, their parents discourage the relationship. But as their buried feelings begin to resurface, will they be able to keep up their charade? Or will they be forced to do something extreme?
1. Am I Feeling Love?

**Alright, I'm back with a new Rose/Scorpius fic.  
I know where I want this fic to go, but as always, I'm worried if it'll get there.  
Well...I'll shut up now. xD  
Please be sure to leave a review!**

--

Am I Feeling Love?

The bright sun was high in the sky as it smiled down on the enthusiastic witches and wizards. It was the day of the World Cup, and already it was breaking records. There were _thousands_ of people there. The Hollyhead Harpies were facing off against The Patonga Proudsticks and it was predicted to be a game for the history books, a day that would never be forgotten.

For one little redhead, that prediction would prove true.

Rose Weasley, five years of age, was mucking about the large tent that she was to share with half her family. And, being a Weasley, that meant a _lot_ of people. The Potters were there, so were the Delacour-Weasleys, Teddy Lupin, and of course her grandparents. All together, that would make seventeen, including herself. That said, the tent was enchanted to have many rooms and beds about. There was also the chaos that went hand in hand with being part of Weasleys clan. The adults were doing the best they could to keep their children under control, but even magic can only go so far.

James had already gotten into the Muggle firecrackers that Uncle Harry had brought. That said, her mother and grandfather were trying to rebuild the damage on one end of the tent. Hugo had managed to eat a few enchanted Holyhead coins, which were now causing him to turn different shades of green and continue yelling the Holyhead anthem. Uncle Harry, her dad and grandmother were all trying to take care of that, though her father really seemed to be enjoying the whole experience than anything else. "A story to tell every girl he brings home", he kept saying. Rose had no idea what he meant by that, but she did have to agree that there was something undeniably funny about the whole situation. Aunt Ginny had been yelling at James for quite a while now, and Albus was enjoying the sight a little too much to think about doing anything else. Aunt Fleur was making modifications to their family outfits. Yes, _outfits_. Her thinking was "If you're not in an outfit, then you're not fit to be out." Add in the French accent, of course. Rose was old enough to know that she was crazy, but she did love her anyway. And not just because she gave Rose the best candy at Christmas time. Anyway, the outfit thing ruled out any chance of being able to play with Dom, Louis or even Victoire. Not that she didn't like Victoire, it's just that every time Rose agreed to play with her, she always ended up in something frilly with bows in her hair. And that just isn't something this particular redhead is a fan of. Normally that would leave Teddy to play with, but he was becoming more and more obsessed with being around Victoire. That said, he was "helping" Aunt Fleur. And the rest of her family was to arrive later on that day, so Rose was completely and utterly _bored_.

She hadn't thought to bring any books with her, just because it was a Quidditch game and her five year old mind seemed to think that it was going to be non stop excitement. Go figure.

"Mum!" Rose yelled for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Rose, sweetie, I told you to stay out of here." Hermione said, not really looking at her daughter. "Something might fall on you. Go talk to your father."

With a roll of her eyes, Rose turned on her heel and wandered out into the main room of the tent. That's when Rose got the feeling of being outside, looking through a window. Everyone was busy doing their own thing, and nobody cared where little Rose was. That's not true, of course, but that's how she saw it. Her nosed turned up a little, Rose headed through the entrance of the tent, determined to make her own fun. They'd miss her soon enough.

The air outside was exciting. People were weaving through tents, buying things from vendors. There were balloons everywhere, and Rose Weasley was a fan of balloons. Making a mental note to steal one later (they cost money, and she had none), something very shiny caught her eye. A vendor across the field was selling what looked like jewelry. Now, Rose Weasley was a fan of balloons, but she was an even _bigger_ fan of shiny things. So, she took off in that direction. Suddenly, though, a few tents sprouted in her path. Confused, she just started to step the other way, when twelve more appeared. The confusion melted away into anger. The Weasley temper always was a hard thing to avoid. In a huff, she started to run past all the tents. Within at least five minutes of running, Rose looked around and came to one startling realization.

She had no idea where she was anymore.

Before the fear could get ahold of her, she started a few breathing techniques. Her mother taught them to her after Rose almost had a spider-induced panic attack. Quickly, she started walking back the way she came. Then she remembered that she had taken a turn earlier, so she started to go that way. There were people everywhere, and the once happy faces now looked incredibly unfriendly and frightening. Everywhere, they were yelling, there were screams and shrieks of laughter. Her mind started to spin, and then she remembered her mother and the rest of her family. Oh, she should've stayed in the tent like she was supposed to. Now, she was lost and had no idea what to do. So she did the only thing she could.

She walked over to a shaded spot in the grass, buried her face in her knees, and started crying.

In the back of her mind, she knew that her family would find her eventually. There were enough of them. And her head of hair was sure to attract lots of notice, though no one really seemed to be paying much attention to her. Maybe no one knew what to do with a bawling child? But she couldn't stop the tears. She had never felt so hopeless and afraid in her entire life.

"Why are you crying?" A voice above her said.

"I'm not crying!" Was her instant response. She jerked her head up in a wet glare, fully prepared to yell some more at this unwelcome bystander. What, were they just going to ask stupid questions while she was sitting there in her misery? And then her vision focused on a boy that couldn't be older than her, but didn't seem younger. He was staring at her, his lips pursed, and one eyebrow raised. The harsh sun reflected off his ice blue eyes and frosty, platinum hair. And, for some reason, Rose was thankful that her crying left her with uneven breath. She had an excuse for the way it caught in her throat. Had she been more alert, she would've noticed the sudden concern that flickered across his face. Without saying anything else, he offered her his hand and, without really understanding why, she took it without hesitation. The boy helped her up as she tried to wipe away the river that had been released on her freckled cheeks.

"Here." He mumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a hankerchief. Slightly flustered, she took it, not able to look him in the eye. With a soft thanks, she started to wipe her eyes, and then she realized that she still had ahold of the boy's hand. Both seeming to realize at the same time, the quickly let go and tried to act like that didn't just happen.

Once she was sure all the remaining tears were off her face, Rose started to hand the cloth back to the blonde.

"Uh - You can keep it." He offered, looking at the ground after glancing at her face.

"Why?" Rose's eyes instinctively narrowed. "You think I'm gonna start crying again?"

"No!" The boy said, his eyes wide, and trying to figure out what he said wrong. "It's just, uh...if you scrape your knee or something and your mom's not around to make it better." Rose's bottom lip started to quiver as she thought about her mom again, and the boy instantly realized that had been the wrong thing to say.

"I'm sorry!" He said, suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders. Both of them froze for a moment, wide eyed, until he dropped his arms and looked away, awkwardly.

"Um...My name's Scorpius." He said, running his fingers through her hair. The redhead wrinkled her nose.

"That's a funny name." She said, trying to hold back a giggle. He squinted at her.

"Oh yeah? What's your's?" He asked, as if holding on to the hope that her name was stranger than his.

"Rose." She blinked, with a little smile. He realized a few seconds after it happened, that he was returning her smile.

"Uh..nice to meet you, Rose." He held out his hand again, and she took it, her smile growing.

"Pleasure." It was silent for a moment as the two stared at each other.

"So.." Scorpius offered, uncomfortable with the silence. "Are you lost?"

Her solemn eyes and slow nod was enough answer to his question. Quickly, he tried to think of a way that would prevent Rose from crying again.

"Uh -- I'll help you find your tent!" She raised her eyebrow and folded her arms in front of her.

"But then _you'll_ get lost." Rose responded as if she already knew she was right. She rolled his eyes and smirked.

"_Please_. I've been here since yesterday morning. I know _exactly_ where I am!." With a shrug, the pair started to walk off as Rose described what her tent looked like.

--

The sun was now starting to set, and the cold air was looming about the campsite. The crowds outside had mostly died down, everyone turning instead to their tents and the people they had brought with them. Every so often, you would hear rumbles of laughter coming from inside different tents, or a call of birds deep within the forest. Most of the vendors had packed up for the day, but there were a few still trying to sell their merchendise to the remaining tourists.

"One please." Scorpius said, throwing a coin up on the vendor's cart.

"Ah...which one do you want there, son?" The child furrowed his brow at the assumed nickname, then pointed to a balloon hanging high above them.

"Pleasure doing business with yah." The vendor said, sticking the coin in his pocket and handing the balloon to the blonde.

"Thanks." He said quickly, already starting to walk away. "Here, Rose."

"You didn't have to." The redhead said bashfully, her eyes lit with excitment.

"You said you wanted it." Scorpius shrugged, a little embarrassed. But Rose's giggle didn't make the slight reddening of his cheeks go away.

"But you already did so much for me today!" The little girl protested, suddenly feeling guilty. He shook his head, confused by her words.

"Rose, I told you I'd get you back to your tent, but now we've _both_ been lost all day!" Rose laughed again.

"But it's been the most fun day I've ever had in my whole life!" He looked at her, surprised, though not feeling any different.

"_Really_?" He questioned, both of them having stopped walking.

"Yeah! And --" Her attention was taken away by a few bright red shades of hair, just like her own. Looking closer, she saw her mother with her Uncle George and Aunt Ginny. "Hey! It's my mum!"

Rose turned to run, but stopped before she moved her feet. A little sadness came over the young pair as they both realized that their day together was over.

"Scorpius...thanks. I had a great time today." She said, taking one of the blonde's hands and holding it. Scorpius looked a little uncomfortable with the situation at first, but was quickly fine with it.

"Me too." He smiled a little, and squeezed her hand. She giggled, which caused Scorpius to laugh as well. Once the two had calmed their laughter, Rose got an idea in her head, and it didn't take long for her to act on it. She heard her mother shout her name in the distance, but she had already set her plans into motion. Quickly, she took a small step and delicately placed her lips on the boy's. She felt his whole body stiffen, but he didn't pull away, and it took half a second for him to start relaxing. Now, Rose had no real idea of what a kiss meant. She saw her family do it all the time, and figured it was perfectly innocent. It was what girls and boys did to say thanks, right?

"Rose!" She heard her mother close to her, and she pulled away from Scorpius with a smile. A little dazed, he returned the smile until they were both snatched up from the ground.

"Granger." Rose heard a man's voice, not sounding very nice. "Or...I suppose it's _Weasley_ now, isn't it?" Rose positioned herself to where she could see the man speaking. He was taller than her mother by a good bit, though not taller than her father. He had the same hair and eyes as Scorpius, though...they didn't seem the same at all. The man didn't have the sparkle in his eyes that she knew Scorpius did, and his hair wasn't as shiny. Rose _would_ notice that, seeing as how she's the expert on all things shiny.

"Malfoy." Her mother replied with an odd sort of smile on her face. Rose couldn't really even call it a smile. It didn't seem very nice at all. "You seem well." It seemed like her mother was trying to keep a pleasant conversation going, but there was an undertone that Rose didn't quite understand. The man opened his mouth to say something, then looked past her mother to what Rose noticed was her aunt and uncle approaching.

"You keep your filthy little daughter away from my son." He said with a tone so harsh, Rose felt it in her heart. She looked at Scorpius as his father quickly carried him away, and saw the same shocked expression she had. Before they disappeared behind the new group of tents that sprung up, she saw him reach his hand out, as if he were reaching for her.

Rose didn't see him again until several years later.

--

"I'll go ahead and get us a compartment, Rosie." Albus Potter said to his cousin while pushing up his glasses.

"Don't get lost, Al." The redhead joked, ruffling her best friend's inky black hair. Well, _one_ of her best friends, anyway. She had yet to locate the other.

"Rose." She heard someone softly say behind her. She turned around to see the blonde hair she was so familiar with.

"Hey Dom!" Rose said, louder than really necessary. Dominique Weasley was the only one of the Delacour Weasleys that Rose trusted enough to spend the night with. And she had plenty of experience in that field. Victoire would always try to have her dressed in some God awful pajama ensemble, and she always seemed to wake up in the middle of the night to Louis hovering over her, staring the way he always does. That's actually part of how Dom and Rose became such great friends. All the times the Weasley children were brought together, and the girls were forced to do one activity while the boys did another, Dom was the only other one that put up a fight. Besides little Lily, of course, but she did whatever Rose did. It was really kind of cute to see the idol worship going on. Anyway, the bottom line is, Dom and Rose were very much alike, but somehow different enough to maintain a steady friendship.

Dominique was soft spoken, Rose was everything but. Rose was a tomboy, Dom was...well, not a girly girl. She had adopted this somewhat goth look over the years. Not really _goth_, that was a weird word to use, anyway. The girl just preferred to dress in darker clothes, and she always seemed to have funky ribbons braided into her hair. Dom's really the odd one out of the whole Delacour-Weasley group. It's easy to see that her mother doesn't really approve of how she dresses, but Dom, like Rose, has always been a daddy's girl. That's probably where she got the courage to dress how she wants to, actually. Her father isn't exactly the most...normal-dressed out of the bunch. What, with his dragon fang earring and all. Rose had always admired her Uncle Bill. Of course, she admired all of her uncles in some way. Except for maybe her uncle Percy, but...she loved him anyway. Even though it might just be because she has to most of the time.

"Really now, Rose, you don't have to yell." The part veela said, trying to mask her small grin.

"I missed you too, Dom." Rose said, throwing an arm around her cousin's shoulders. "Now tell me _all_ about France."

Dom rolled her eyes at the ground.

"I'll tell you when we get in the changing rooms."

--

"Wow, Dom. I thought visiting my Muggle grandparents was bad..." Rose said, straightening her skirt as the pair tumbled out into the corridor of the train.

"Well, well. Look boys." The redhead heard a strangely familiar voice coming from behind them. Turning, she saw the boy she remembered from her past. The one that she had tried to forget about, according to her mother's advice. "A little lost pair of squibs, it looks like." Rose felt an unfamiliar pain in her chest at his mocking, unfriendly tone.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Dom spoke up beside her, her voice as flat and sarcastic as ever. The group of boys, for some reason unknown to the girls, got a kick out of Dominique's response.

"Scorpius Malfoy. But you _Weasleys_ can call me _Mr._ Malfoy." Dom rolled her eyes at the blonde's words. True, they were juvenille and ridiculous at best, but something about them was striking a little too close to home for Rose.

"Ah, so you _do_ know who we are." Dom said flatly, more to herself and everyone around them than Scorpius. He didn't seem much affected.

"Obviously. You all have the same vacant, drooling expression--"

And that's when Rose Weasley's fist connected with his perfectly sculpted nose.

The was an ear shattering silence that filled the train. Students had poked their heads out to see the new bully at work, and the shock was clear across their faces. Rose adjusted her hand on her trunk's handle, grabbed her cat carrier and continued in the direction she saw Albus go.

"Come on, Dom." She said, as if nothing had just happened.

"Right behind you, Red."

--

**Alright, there's the first chapter. What do you think? Love it, hate it? **

**Be sure to leave me a review ;D**

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Hot

**So, here we are with chapter two!**

**Thanks to all that reviewed and put my story on your story alerts!**

**It makes me happy.**

**Before I get started, I just want to say HIMARIA.**

**If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. ;D**

**Okay, with all that said...hope you enjoy this chapter!**

--

Hot

"Dom, I know you inherited some of your dad's wolfy tendencies, but really. You have like seven chicken wings there."

"Nice, Red. Have fun in detention?" Rose grimaced at Dominique's monotone jab. How did the girl always know exactly what to say to shut Rose up? Deciding not to think too hard about it, she sat down next to her cousin and started putting some food on her own plate.

"Albus decide to sit with his house today?" Dom nodded, incapable of actually answering with words. Rose rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"I dunno, something about Scorpius acting weird." The blonde shrugged after swallowing a mouthful of chicken.

"Shouldn't 'weird' describe his personality?" Dominique, already having another mouthful of chicken, just shrugged again. With a frustrated sigh, Rose dug into her dinner as well. Usually Dom was all for dogging on Scorpius, or at least _hearing_ about it. Ever since their first day of Hogwarts it was like a little game they would play. Who knew Albus Potter, one third of her being, would befriend him? Usually he would be alright with one or two jabs about the blonde, Rose had to try very hard to keep it under control. Al usually sat at the Gryffindor table, since that's where the majority of his family resided. Very rarely did he actually sit with his own house, though he did seem to be very popular among them. Even more so this year, their seventh. He was given the captain position on their Quidditch team. Rose was happy for him, but also a little...not. Rose was on the Gryffindor team herself, and she knew that competition would get even tougher with Al as their captain. They had a good captain this year as well. Alexander Wood. If anyone knew his father, they probably could have predicted that one. Rose stood in as co captain, but she didn't like the title. Alex insisted that Rose had a great, strategic, Quidditch mind, but she had to think otherwise. She knew what _she_ could do, and she didn't like to consider anyone else's capabilities. He also suggested on many occasions that she would've gotten the captain position if she didn't pull so many stunts out there. The last part was probably true. Rose did have an amazing ability to throw herself in front of a Bludger to protect another, more important player. Usually the Seeker, Rose's Chaser skills are hard to match.

"So did blondie join you in detention?" Dom inquired, snapping Rose out of her thought process.

"Yeah." She grunted through her mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Ah. That explains it." The part veela said in her usual monotone voice. It took Rose a minute to try and figure out what she was talking about. When she didn't, she swallowed her potatoes and turned to her friend.

"Explains what?" She asked, confused. Dom looked up from her nearly empty plate with her eyebrows raised, like what she said had been the most obvious thing in the world.

"This happens every time you two are in detention together." Rose waited, but Dom just stared at her.

"_What_?" She spat, frustrated by the long day and her cousin's cryptic remarks.

"He stares at you like that!" Dom answered, getting some emotion in her voice. "Geez, Red. You're so oblivious."

Furrowing her brow, Rose looked over to the Slytherin table. She saw several of her classmates laughing over something in one guy's soup...that probably wasn't a good sign. There was the school slut making out with what looked like a Ravenclaw, though Rose couldn't really see his robes very well. Then there was Albus, saying something, but poking the food around on his plate, and right next to him was Scorpius -- looking at her strangely.

So, "strangely" wouldn't really be the word. He was really just staring...but the way he was doing it wasn't normal. His normal way of staring, you can tell he was just waiting for her to see him before he launched one of his insults at her and then another one of their infamous fights would break out. No, this stare was almost...nice? Okay, nice wasn't really the right word for it. Civil? Yes, it was civil, but that wasn't just it. As soon as their eyes met, they both looked quickly away like they had just been given a little electric shock.

"Woo, that was weird." Dom stated to no one in particular.

"What?" Rose asked, like she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Uhm, well let's see. You both just jumped like someone kicked you in the butt, and you're lookin' all meek while -- if I'm not mistaken -- he's lookin' a little flustered." Rose looked at her cousin like she had just sprouted a few ivy vines from her skull.

"Have you been inhaling those potion fumes again? I'm telling you, Dom, you have to stop that." Dominque rolled her eyes and shook her head, digging back into her chicken.

"Whatever, Red."

--

_"Scorpius...thanks. I had a great time today." She said, taking one of the blonde's hands and holding it. Scorpius looked a little uncomfortable with the situation at first, but was quickly fine with it._

_"Me too." He smiled a little, and squeezed her hand. His hands were bigger than she remembered. She giggled, which caused Scorpius to laugh as well. Once the two had calmed their laughter, Rose got an idea in her head, and it didn't take long for her to act on it. She heard her mother shout her name in the distance, but she had already set her plans into motion. Quickly, she took a small step and delicately placed her lips on the boy's. She felt his whole body stiffen, but he didn't pull away, and it took half a second for him to start relaxing. Then, she couldn't stop her hands from locking on the boy's hair. She felt his hands slide down her back. Shocked, Rose pulled back and saw Scorpius staring at her. But he wasn't the little boy she had left that day, and she wasn't the little girl she had been, either._

"_Rose_!"

The redhead bolted upright, feeling a lot hotter than normal.

"Geez, Red!" A shade of blonde hair exclaimed, her hand to her forehead. "Glad I stopped yelling in your face. Might've gotten brain damage with you boltin' upright like that."

"Dom?" Rose squinted into the dimly lit dormitory.

"No, it's Lord Voldemort, come to take you as my halfblood bride. What the hell, Rose? Get up, we have like twenty minutes to get down to breakfast."

That was all the conversation Rose needed. If she didn't get any breakfast, there was no chance of her having a successful day. She was her father's daughter. An empty stomach meant a grouchy, tired, and generally unpleasant Rose Weasley. As she jumped into the shower and then into her uniform, she couldn't get the night out of her head. Her dream, that is. It was all the same as her memory...minus their ages. Well..._plus_ their ages, if you wanted to be mathmatically correct. They were both seventeen. Which was actually a lot less creepy than if they had actually been the age they were that day. Something about five year olds making out like that is a little...disturbing. Incredibly disturbing, actually. She hoped that didn't happen anywhere.

Rose tried to focus on the breakfast she was shoving into her mouth, but she couldn't. Which explains why she choked a few times, but that's beside the point. She wished that she could tell herself she was disgusted with the dream, with the whole _idea_ of what happened in the dream. But, for some reason, she couldn't. Rose thought about that day a lot before Hogwarts. After they got back to the tent, and the commotion of her being found had died down, Hermione sat Rose down and gave her a good talking to about staying away from Scorpius. Something about how his father had been a bad person, how the whole family had been full of bad people, and Hermione didn't want Rose to get involved in that crowd. Then the Malfoy name started to come up occasionally around the dinner table. And the stories were never pleasant. That's when Rose started to be embarrassed by what happened that day. Her _mother_ had seen her _kissing_ a boy! Awkward! She didn't think that when she was five, of course, but as she got older it sunk in. Her mother was witness to her first kiss. Shudder. No one else knew that Scorpius Malfoy was her first kiss, not even Dom and Al. They both think that her first kiss was with Felix Jordan back in fifth year as the result of a dare. Ha, if only they knew. Scorpius wouldn't have told anyone. If he had told Al, Rose would've heard about it by now. No, he was just as embarrassed about the situation as Rose was. It would be a secret both would take to their grave.

Feeling strangely sad, Rose followed Dominique through the doors of the Great Hall, where they met up with Albus.

"Woah, what's wrong with her?" She could hear Al's voice in the back of her mind.

"I dunno. She's been a rain cloud all morning."

"Oh, bite me Miss Doom-And-Gloom." Rose grinned, elbowing her blonde cousin in the ribs. The two started laughing, while Albus just rolled his eyes and tried to fight back a smile.

--

"Alright, you'll be working with your tables today." Professor Ravenwood said, snapping Rose out of her dozing state. Potions was not one of her favorite subjects, though she did have a great capability for the practice. The new professor helped her enthusiasm for the topic, though. He was younger than their last, just recently hired. He had to be in his twenties, and not particularly dreadful looking. Rose did occasionally fear for his innocence, though. Professor Ravenwood had gained quite a few female followers. But his previous statement just sent him down a few cool points.

Rose's table consisted of herself, Dominique, Albus...and the very last person she would have been alright working with today. Scorpius.

"Alright, you all should know the drill. Don't let Dom touch anything." Al joked, going to get the materials they needed. Though he said it in a light tone, he was serious. Dominique absolutely _failed_ at Potions. Once, she lit her cauldron on fire. She lit _liquid_ on fire. No ingredients they used that day were supposed to be flamable, but in Dom's hands, they were deadly. Ever since then, Professor Ravenwood assigned them to do things in groups. Rose was always her partner. But, for whatever reason, something _possessed_ him to assign tables to _one_ potion today. Really. Rose could do it all by herself.

"I say we sit back while Freckles does all the work." Scorpius said, sneering at Rose in the process. He knew Rose hated that nickname. "Red" she was fine with, but "Freckles" sounded like a dog or another pet's name. Rose opened her mouth to take another stab right back at him, but Albus put a stop to the quarrel before it got a chance to start.

"Not now you two." He said, balancing ingredients in his arms. "Can't you both just _try_ to get along? Would it cause either of you physical pain?"

The two blank stares he got seemed the only answer they were going to give him, so he rolled his eyes and started setting down the components. The potion they were making was reasonably simple. To Rose, at least. As long as everyone followed the directions exactly, the potion would turn out fine. The only reason Professor Ravenwood wanted them to work in tables was because the ingredients were very expensive, but he felt it was a potion that they should know how to make. Amortentia was it's name. She had heard the name before, her mother still had notes that she took back in her sixth year. Their last Potions professor said it wasn't important, but Rose had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't know how to make it himself.

"Rose, let Scorpius do that, you're gonna fall." Al said, glancing up from the root he was cutting.

"Why? He'll hurt the floor more when _he_ falls." Rose muttered, not removing her eyes from the potion she was stirring. The book said something about stirring while being able to see all the contents. Well, Rose did not inherit her father's monster height, so she was now standing on a stool pushed up next to their table. The class was nearing it's end, and no potions had yet to be completed. One table's potion had suddenly turned as hard as a rock, and that's where Profesor Ravenwood was, trying to fix the problem. Normally he wouldn't approve of Rose's current position, and would tell her exactly what Albus had said, only she would have to listen to him. The redhead got enough detentions on her own, she didn't need to hear the lecture from her mother about "disrespecting authority figures". She begged to differ. If Hermione had listened to every authority figure in _her_ life, they'd all be living under Voldemort's rule right about now. Actually, Rose probably _wouldn't_ be living. Anyway, beside the point.

Rose moved her feet a little closer to the edge of the stool, trying to get a better arial view of the potion they were brewing. That action proved to be a mistake, as she felt the support beneath her start to faulter. It all happened in half a second. The stool started to slip, Dom jumped up to keep the cauldron in place, and Rose felt someone's arms wrap around her stomach, keeping her from hitting the ground. The class grew very silent as everyone took in the scene. Albus, his eyes wide, holding a knife and gaping at his cousin. Dominique, with more emotion on her face than anyone had ever seen, clutching the cauldron. And last, but _certainly_ not least, Scorpius Malfoy holding Rose Weasley in his arms, her hands clutching him for support.

"Ahem, well." Professor Ravenwood broke the deafening silence, only to be interrupted by the bell. "Yes, uh, have someone in your group pack up your potion for you to continue tomorrow, I'll write you a note."

Rose was out the door by "someone", pulling Dom behind her.

--

"Wow, Rose, what'd you do this time?" Roxanne asked in a hushed voice, sitting down next to one of her many redheaded cousins.

"What do you mean, what did you hear?" Rose jumped, turning quicky to her dark skinned relative. Roxanne's eyes widened a little, but then she broke out into laughter.

"You _did_ do something bad. I've never seen you this jumpy!" She said, laughing a little more.

"It's not so much what _she_ did -- " Dom started, looking up from her turkey sandwich.

"Shut it, blondie." Rose warned with a glare. Roxanne furrowed her brow in a confused expression, and was about to press the topic further, when another of their redheaded cousins popped up.

"Well, that was quite a show you gave back there, Rosie." Molly Weasley's shrill voice came from across the table. Molly was, to say the very least about her personality, exactly like her father Percy. She wasn't really the favorite of any cousin, though she was her father's pride and joy. One of the few Weasleys of this generation sorted into Ravenclaw, her sister Lucy was sorted into Hufflepuff. Rose couldn't help but feel sorry for Lucy. The girl was very sweet and didn't talk much, but Rose did not envy her for having to live with the nag that Molly was. She could hardly stand sitting in the Great Hall with her for meals, even if the two didn't speak a word to each other.

"Tread lightly, cousin." Dom warned quietly while Rose turned a death glare on her least favorite cousin.

"No, really." Molly continued, ignoring her words with a smirk. "I always knew you two were meant for each other, it was just so nice of you to give the rest of us a peek. So how have you kept your relationship a secret for so long? Snogging in broom closests?"

"Go to hell, Kinks." Rose snapped, snatching up her bag and flying through the giant doors of the Great Hall, Roxanne and Dom following behind her a few feet.

"Ooh, you used the _nickname_, you must be _really_ mad." Roxanne mused from behind Rose. The nickname "Kinks" was a stab at Molly's hair. Most of the Weasleys had unruly hair, but Molly was the worst. She got her mother's insane curls. Really, if Rose thought that _her_ mother's hair was bad, she would die over Molly's. The curls weren't cute after the age of four. They were so tightly wound, Molly couldn't have short hair. It would turn into a afro. And it was hard to brush, the Weasleys have lost many combs due to that hair.

Rose didn't respond to Roxanne's comment. She wasn't really in the mood for pleasant conversation. Or really any conversation. She was in the mood to punch someone in the face, but she didn't have a real fight to pick with anyone. Not even the person that she could _always_ turn to for a fight. No, she owed him one after their last encounter. Maybe she could pass not punching him off as a favor? Nah, that probably wouldn't go over well. And she couldn't very well just walk up to him and punch him in the face. Not that she hadn't done it before, there was just no substantial reason this time. He saved her from a nasty tumble, the dungeon floors are very unforgiving, especially in a skirt. But the favor wasn't the part that Rose was concerned with. What was troubling her was the way she felt about it. Him being that close should have repulsed her. She should've gotten the urge to throw up in their potion on the spot. Instead, what did she do? She clung to him. And, as much as she tried to deny the fact...Rose hadn't felt like she wanted him to let go.

She was never the type of girl to get too caught up on guys. No, she had maybe had all of two boyfriends in all her years at Hogwarts. Neither one lasting more than a week. She didn't like to be manhandled, or feeling like she had to report back to someone. Someone could say she had commitment issues. That may be true, but Rose felt like, if he were the right guy, she would have no problem commiting. Her Aunt Ginny told her something like that back in the day, and it stuck. She would be lying to herself if she said that she had absolutely no feelings like that for Scorpius.

Actually...that was _exactly_ what she was doing.

"Calm down, Rose, it wasn't that big of a deal." Dom shrugged, catching up to her cousin.

"Yeah, you fall all the time." Roxanne said, clearly caught up on the situation.

"But I _didn't_ fall this time!" Rose said, quickly stopping, "That's the problem!"

"Don't be over dramatic, Red" Dom rolled her eyes, "He did you a favor, you should thank him."

Rose looked at her cousin like she was missing a very important piece of the puzzle. When neither of the girls seemed to catch on, Rose threw her hands up in the air and continued to walk, heading in the direction of the lake. She was a few feet away when she noticed a group of guys playing Muggle football, and when she noticed that one of them was a platinum blonde, she stopped suddenly and turned around to face her cousins.

"What?" Roxanne asked, her expression a little worried. Dom rolled her eyes and looked past Rose, already knowing what the issue was.

"He's looking at you." She stated, flatly.

"What? Why?" Rose asked, feeling an uncomfortable sweat stabbing at her spine.

"I dunno. But he hasn't looked away yet."

"Maybe he's just trying to figure out which Weasley you are?" Roxanne offered, kindly.

"Please, he knows she's always with me, and with that messy head of hair, she's hard to mistake." Hardly in the mood to make a comback, Rose debated the option of making a run for it.

"You're being ridiculous." Dom sighed, "Why don't you just tell him thanks _now_ and get it over with?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Rose snapped, staring at her cousin with a little panic in her expression.

"It might do you some good, Rosie." Roxanne started, ignoring the fact that Rose turned her crazed expression on her, "I'm not saying to yell thanks right here, just...give him a little smile. He'll see it."

Feeling her heart pound, she looked at her feet. The whole situation was completely throwing her off her game. Rose was always the one in control of things. When she didn't have that control, she went a little crazy. It made her uncomfortable, and sometimes she couldn't walk straight. But she knew Roxanne was right. The faster she got the thanks over with, the faster she could get back to normal and she could punch him again. It's probably not a healthy thing that that's the first place Rose's mind goes. With a deep breath, Rose pulled on a smile. One that everyone could surely see through, but a smile nonetheless, and quickly turned around. The girls were right, he was staring right at her, with a small smile of his own on his face. It couldn't have lasted more than a fraction of a second, Scorpius quickly looked away and Rose felt her face fall into a more confused, and actually a little angry expression. She quickly turned back to her cousins, who were wearing amused faces of their own.

"What the--"

"Let it go, Rose."

--

"All packed, Rosie?" Al asked, cheerfully sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

"Why are you so happy?" Rose questioned, sleepily raising an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you?" He challenged, his expression falling into a more peculiar one. Rose didn't answer, she just shrugged and put her head on Al's shoulder, closing her eyes. The previous couple of weeks had been a little more than trying for the girl. After the incident in Potions, Professor Ravenwood made sure not to assign tables to one potion anymore. Bless his heart. They probably didn't teach him how to handle such incidents in school. He also had a hard time meeting Rose's eyes. Something told her that the professor didn't have much experience in the field of love. That didn't sway his followers, however. Their drooling continued. What didn't continue, though, was her fighting with Scorpius. Alright, well that's not _entirely_ true. They still fought, but it wasn't nearly anything it had been. Rose hated to look at him. There was always something else in his eyes besides the obvious amusement he got out of making her angry. She couldn't tell what it was, and she hated thinking about it. So, mostly she just avoided him. And she found that she was pretty good at it.

"Did your mum tell you about the dress mine made you?" Al asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, kind of." Rose answered, opening her eyes and lifting her head from it's resting spot on her cousin's shoulder. "Green and pretty was about all I got out of it. Something about sleeves." Al laughed and shook his head in response.

"I don't see why _we_ have to go to the Ministry Christmas party. It's just going to be a pointless, boring time." She whined, biting into her bagel.

"Aw, Rosie. Have a better attitude about it." Albus said, pulling his favorite cousin into a one armed hug. "James and Fred'll be there. Which means the punch will probably get spiked, or there'll be an enchanted gnome statue running around...or the food might have something in it that makes everyone turn green. Actually, you might should be a little afraid."

"Aunt Ginny's gonna have James on lock down." Rose said, Al raised his eyebrow and shook his head.

"Never stopped him before."

--

**Okay, so how was that?**

**Love it, hate it?**

**I'd love for you to leave a review! ;D**


	3. With Me

**Alright, well. We're just moving right along here, aren't we?**

**Chapter three already.**

**Well, I hope you're enjoying it.**

**I've forgotten to mention that all the characters belong to JKR.**

**But I figure you knew that already.**

--

With Me

"Rose Lynn Weasley!" Hermione called from outside the bathroom stall, "You cannot stay in there all night, everyone's expecting you!"

"I look ridiculous!" Rose cried, standing in the farthest corner of the stall.

"Rose..." Her mother said, softer this time. "You do not. You look beautiful. Your father could hardly keep himself from crying when he saw you!"

"Because he was terrified!"

"Rose!" Her mother snapped, getting frustrated, "You're being incredibly unreasonable, now you _know_ you look beautiful and _I _know that you're strong enough to go out there and face all those people even though you're scared." Rose quickly unlocked the door and threw it open, coming face to face with her mother.

"I am not _scared_." She said, her tone serious.

"Good, then you'll have no problem coming with me." Hermione said, happy with herself and grabbing Rose by the arm. She gave her daughter a once over in the mirror and quickly pulled her outside into the main lobby of the building where Dom was waiting. The mother turned to her only daughter and smiled.

"If I don't see you down those stairs in five minutes, you get to spend the rest of your Christmas break with the Delacour family." Rose's eyes widened.

"But Dom isn't even going there -- "

"I know." With another smile and a wink, Hermione turned and began to walk downstairs into the main party room.

"Woah, Red. Lookin' hot." Dom said behind her, causing her to automatically roll her eyes.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." Rose complimented, and she meant it. Dom was wearing a purple and black dress that was a little shorter than her mother probably would've liked. The dress was short, but she had long black sleeves that had purple details all the way down. Her hair was up in a sleek ponytail with hair let down on either side, framing her face. The girl really could wear a potato sack and look amazing.

"Think you could wear a bag on your head or something?" She suggested, only half joking.

"Please, Rose." Dom sighed, "You're giving me a run for my money tonight. Let's go."

Suddenly Rose realized everything that made her uncomfortable with her dress. The emerald green color was sure to make her look like she thought the world of herself. The way it hung around her thighs, and the way it clung to the curves of her body. Even the long sleeves felt too tight. And the way her hair was fixed, hanging nicely around her face...was it all too much? She was sure that she would trip over her heels.

"Come on, Red. I don't think your mom's one for empty threats."

"But -- "

"Shut up."

--

The main room was as big as the Great Hall, if not bigger. The walls had been enchanted to look like snow was falling outside while the ceiling held half a dozen beautiful chandeliers. Every table had a white table cloth and center pieces made of silver flowers. There was a wide opening next to the jazz band that was playing lightly. Rose assumed it was for dancing, but no one was there yet. As she and Dominique began to descend the white marble staircase, Rose realized she didn't know anyone in the room. In a panic, she started scanning the crowd for her family. One would imagine that a family of redheads would stick out of the crowd. Well, one would be _wrong_. She saw a few vaguely familiar faces, probably from Christmas parties' past. She felt a cold sweat coming on, even though the room was plenty warm. She knew that Dom was right beside her, but that didn't seem to give her any kind of comfort. Rose wasn't a fan of big social situations, especially when it was full of strangers. She knew that a lot of students at school had parents that worked at the Ministry -- where were _they_? It didn't matter who it was, as long as she saw _someone_. She was used to putting on the rough and tumble mask in front of them, maybe it'd come out if she saw someone she was familiar with?

The flash of platinum blonde she saw immediately clutched at her heart, but not in a painful way. In more of a...happy way. Happy? Before she could really think about her reaction, she found herself smiling widely at Scorpius, who actually was looking at her. And not just any smile. She felt like she could do one of those girly little "OMG" dances like something fantastic had just happened. Rose wasn't sure at first if Scorpius even realized she was smiling at him, and she was so relieved she actually saw a familiar face, she didn't care if he noticed or not. She could always blame it on something else if he brought it up later. Much to her surprise, he smiled back at her. Well, really it was more of a grin, and he did a little head nod, but it wasn't exactly an unwelcome response.

"What are you smiling at?" Dom asked, curiously looking through the crowd. That's when Rose snapped out of her...insane state and looked around for an excuse. Her eyes fell on the snack table.

"...They have cupcakes!"

--

The party had been going on for just about an hour, and Rose was already completely and utterly _bored_. Dom had spotted a boy that she found particularly interesting, so she was talking and dancing with him. Al was off somewhere talking to some Slytherin boys that had arrived, all of whom were incredibly boring and a little creepy to be around. Her parents had been dancing and talking with all the other boring adults ever since they got there. The talking Rose could handle, but all the PDA was just a little too much for her to stomach. And she _did_ have to take her stomach into consideration. With the all excitement she showed Dom about "cupcakes", she had to back up her word. So, in the course of half an hour, she had consumed five cupcakes. _Big_ cupcakes. That's why Rose was a little thankful that Dom had found a boy so early and had gone off with him. Who knew how much more frosting she could've stomached? She was still having trouble, thirty minutes later.

The redhead rested her chin on her hand and looked around the room. She was sitting at a table by herself, while everyone else was dancing and talking. How sad was that? Rose knew that she should make an attempt to be sociable, but frankly she just didn't _want_ to. Nothing in particular caught her interest, and she didn't feel like standing just for the heck of it. Part of her still wanted to hide under the tablecloth. Rose wasn't a fan of dresses -- the school skirts had been a stretch at first. She just wasn't very _girly_. She much preferred pants. That way, if she had to kick someone, she didn't have to worry about the rest of the room seeing her business. Reasonable, right? Skirts and dresses weren't very practical. Drumming her fingers on the table, she glanced around the room again, looking for something -- _anything_ that could cure her insatiable boredom.

And that was when she saw Scorpius walking out of the room in the direction of the courtyard.

Rose knew it was a courtyard because that's where she thought about hiding when they first arrived. Where could he be going? Her inner detective started to poke at the back of her mind as she stood from the table and started weaving through the crowd. She tried to draw as little attention to herself as she could, only briefly pausing to smile at someone who had noticed her. When she walked out into the courtyard, she realized how very much warmer the party had been. Of course Aunt Ginny wouldn't have expected her to be running around outside in the dead of winter in her dress. Why else would it be so short? Mentally swearing, she stepped lightly around the stone pillars, trying to see where Scorpius had gone. She must have been trying to find him for five minutes, hiding behind different stone pillars and maybe even a statue or two, before she heard him speak right behind her.

"Looking for someone?" Rose whipped around so fast, she stumbled back a little, thankful that there was a pillar to catch her.

"How the _hell_ did you get there?" She asked before she could think. He flashed her a cheeky grin.

"Legs. They're very useful."

"Oh...shut up." He raised an eyebrow.

"Great come back, Freckles. You really told me." If she could kick herself without looking completely insane, she would have right then.

"Drop dead, Ferret-Face." She snapped, starting to walk back in the direction of the party.

"I might." Scorpius started, quickly stepping in front of her and leaning on the pillar, "If I go back to that sad excuse for a party."

"Well I suppose it's nothing like the group orgies I hear about at Slytherin parties." Rose said flatly, crossing her arms in front of her and looking up at the boy. He just grinned at her again and stared down at her.

"So," Rose announced as soon as she was sure the air was _really_ getting thicker, "I guess I'll just go back to the party now." And she started to walk around Scorpius, but she didn't get too far.

"Why did you come out here?" Busted. Rose slowly turned around with a blank stare on her face.

"Because, I -- "

"Was bored?" He smirked, knowing he had her. When she didn't answer, he nodded slowly. "Stay with me."

"What?" She raised her brow.

"Let's see," He crossed his arms then put one hand on his chin in a fake thinking position. "You can either go back inside and sit by yourself all night, or stay out here with me." He looked like he had expected her to retaliate, but when she didn't, he wandered over to a nearby statue of a Thestral and leaned against it. It took her a minute, but Rose soon followed, eyeing him suspiciously while she stood off to the side of him. He didn't pay attention to her, he just looked up at the moonlit sky. She was staring at him for a good while before he spoke.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" He asked, still looking up at the sky. Rose was so taken aback by his innocent question, she couldn't answer until he looked at her.

"Oh, you know...the usual chaotic gathering at the Weasley residence." She said, looking at the ground and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. When she glanced back up at him, he was looking at her almost thoughtfully. Which was actually _incredibly_ strange. So strange, in fact, that she had to stare at him some more before she could realize that he was staring at _her_. Strange things always seem to happen to Rose on Christmas. Last year she woke up to Hugo, wearing a crazy amount of make up and standing over her bed, staring her in the face. Alright, so that wasn't exactly the same thing, but weird things happen.

"Um, what about you?" Was her attempt at shattering the awkward silence. He turned his attention back to the sky.

"More parties like this." He said, not offering any more.

"That sounds...like fun" She had made the mistake of realizing what she was saying right in the middle of her sentence. And how it had been a total lie. He gave her a half smile, as if he appreciated her attempt.

"You don't have to stand all the way over there, you know. I'm not gonna bite you." She looked up to see him smiling at her again. Still not used to the whole "being nice" arrangement, Rose took a minute before she shuffled over to lean against the spot of the statue next to Scorpius. They were silent for what felt like forever, with Scorpius still looking at the sky, and Rose looking at the ground.

"You look beautiful tonight." Rose felt her heart stop and part of her brain explode. She looked up at him to see an honest face looking back at her. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, what the hell are you playing at, Malfoy?" She snapped, glaring and backing away from him. He didn't look surprised, maybe she was more predictable than she thought. He turned towards her, and closed the distance between them, but Rose didn't back away.

"Rose." She backed away then, into the pillar behind them, and Scorpius stayed where he was. "Do you ever think about that day?"

"What day?" Rose asked, instinctively, though she knew very well what day he was talking about.

"Don't play dumb, Rose." He said softly, waiting for her to answer. She stared at him a little before she spoke.

"Do you?" His silence was enough of an answer for her, though she couldn't help but be surprised. Why was he even bringing it up?

"I thought about you a lot after that." Scorpius said, not really seeming to be talking to anyone but himself. "Even after my dad told me how I had to stay away from you." He glanced at her, and he had to have been able to tell how confused she was.

"Rose -- "

"Why are you bringing this up?" She asked, suddenly feeling like she should run. In fact, she was getting ready to. He looked at her for a long moment, trying to figure out the best wording.

"I missed you, Rose." _Dumbfounded_ would be the appropriate term for what Rose was feeling at that moment. She felt her mouth fall open a little in shock. What was she even supposed to say to that? That she felt exactly the same way? What if this was all a big joke? He had someone waiting in the bushes with some recording device. She couldn't trust him after all the years of fighting.

But, even through their fights, had he ever done anything to flat out embarrass her? Had he ever tried to ruin her life? No. In fact, she won the fast majority of their fights, and he never tried to stop her from hitting him. Why was she just now realizing this? Scorpius took a slow step closer to her, but she stepped to the side.

"You don't know what you're talking about." She said, trying to mask the odd fear in her eyes. He just looked at her, knowing she wasn't finished.

"We were like five! You're just confused, it's the whole 'forbidden fruit' thing! -- Have you been drinking the punch?" The redhead rambled, trying to talk him out of what he just said. At the same time, though, she was trying to figure out why she wanted to believe what he was saying.

"Are you finished?"

Her silence was as good enough an answer as any.

"You think I haven't thought about this?" He questioned, almost laughing. "My father would lock me up in St. Mungos if he heard me right now."

"So, why are you telling me this now?" Rose asked, crossing her arms and making it clear that she wasn't happy with the humor he saw in the situation.

"Because I'm tired of only being able to fight with you if I want to talk, and the only way I can touch you is when you hit me." He frowned and took another step in her direction. "Brace yourself, Freckles, but...I actually do have feelings for you."

Rose felt her stomach drop. Part of her knew she should've seen this coming, but another, much bigger part of her wanted to believe him.

"What if I don't feel the same way?" She asked, in an attempt to make him squirm as much as she was. It didn't work.

"You would've run a long time ago." Scorpius said, quickly walking to her, taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips against her's. Before Rose knew it, her back was up against a pillar and her fingers were locked in his perfect, platinum hair. It was as if some sort of fog came over her brain. She couldn't think straight, the only thing she _could_ think of was how much warmer he was then her. Pulling herself closer to him, she tried to absorb more of his heat. Why did it feel like she was suddenly getting what she had been waiting for? Had she _really_ been thinking about this moment all these years? She could've sworn that she hated him. Ever since that day, it was practically her mantra. And now she was clinging to him for dear life? Had the world gone _completely_ insane?

An eruption of laughter close to the doors made them both jump and break their kiss. That's when sensible Rose kicked in. She pushed against Scorpius' hold and took several steps away. She wanted to say something to him, _anything_, but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't belong in a melodramatic romance movie. Instead of words, she turned back to give him what she intended to be a remorseful look, but she knew as soon as she saw his face that it turned out to look a lot more agonized. Not trusting herself enough to stay any longer, she hurried back in through the doors and back down to the party.

What a _grand_ Christmas it was going to be.

--

**Okay, not so sure how I feel about this one.  
Tell me what you think!**

**Thanks for reading.**


	4. All We Know

**Okay, chapter four now...I had planned something to say here, but I've completely forgotten what it was.**

**Oh well.  
Thanks to everyone that's been reviewing -- they're really what keeps me going, you have no idea. Or maybe you're like me, and reviews keep you going as well.**

**Well that's just fantastic.**

**Anyway. I see all you people adding my story to your Story Alert list, and I am so pumped about that, too!!**

**But I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review some time!**

--

All We Know

"_Merlin_, Rose! You've gone through all your Christmas candy _already_?" Rose pursed her lips at her ebony-skinned cousin from across the breakfast table.

"_No_," She lied, trying to come up with a decent excuse. "I just...lost half of it."

"Yeah, in your stomach." Dom finished, chomping down on her tenth piece of bacon.

"Oh, like you can talk, Porky."

"Hey." The blonde stopped, looking up from her bacon. "Meat has protein. Chocolate has...nothing." She shrugged, giving up on trying to sound logical about a subject she had no clue on.

"Not true." Rose sniffed, pushing her shoulders back some. "It's been proven that chocolate makes you feel better. Even if it has little nutritional value." Dom raised her eyebrow.

"Something's got our little Rosie upset?"

"You know me, Dom." Rose started sarcastically, trying to get rid of the panicked sweat she felt coming on. "Just _full_ of drama."

"Not any more than blondie over there." Dom laughed, taking another bite of her breakfast. The redhead froze.

"What?" Dom looked up, a little curious about the tone she heard in Rose's voice.

"Yeah...Pretty's been over there nearly drowning in his cereal bowl. Didn't you notice that Al's missing?"

"Oh, yeah." Rose blinked and tried to get her mind straight, though she didn't dare look over at the Slytherin table. "He probably ran out of hair conditioner or something." She finished rather convincingly.

Roxanne and Dominique laughed a little and continued on with some other topic of conversation, but Rose's mind stayed on the previous. She tried to convince herself that his sudden depression had nothing to do with her, but every time she got close, the picture of his face when she left him in that courtyard popped back up. She felt awful...but what was she _supposed_ to do?! Her parents would go absolutely insane if she actually gave into her feelings. And when did they become _her_ feelings, anyway?! Sure, there might've been some strange element of tension in their fights the past couple of years...but she could hardly say that she loved him!

...Right?

They were only seventeen years old. How did she even know what love _was_?! The whole concept was so confusing. Though, she _has_ heard her mother say on many occasions that she fell in love with her father the very first time she laid eyes on him. It just took so many years to grow into that _special_ kind of love.

Who the hell even knew what she meant by that?

Seriously, the word "love" should come with an instruction manual, or _something_. You can "love" a school subject, you can "love" your new shoes, you can "love" choclate. Then there's the kind of "love" that you give your family. It's different then the kind of "love" you give your spouse.

Hopefully, anyway.

Alright, no time for jokes.

She would be lying to herself if she said that she never thought of Scorpius in that way. When she was a little girl, she used to daydream about him all the time. Of course, that was usually when her parents had made her mad, and she wanted to get back at them. She would always picture herself being swept off her feet by the boy, running away with him and getting married. Oh, that would show _them_! But obviously this time was different. Rose was of legal age now. She was past the childish running away fantasy. Most of the time. It didn't have to be a fantasy anymore, Rose could do it if she wanted to. But why would she want to? She loved her family. Even the ones she preferred not to be in the room with.

"Oh, bloody hell." Dom said suddenly, rummaging through her bag. "I left my Potions essay on my bed."

"You spent all night on that essay, Dom!" Rose exclaimed, trying intently to focus on a lighter subject.

"That would be why it's on my bed." The blonde quirked her eyebrow at her cousin. "It's probably trying to get the sleep it stole from me. I'll meet you in Charms."

"Wait up, Dom." Roxanne said, gathering her things. "I need to grab a headband before I go to Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"I'll come with you!" Rose said, starting to get up. Dom put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nah, you stay and eat. You've hardly touched a thing on your plate, and I don't want to deal with a grouchy Rose later." The blonde teased. Rose resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her cousin, but couldn't help agreeing. Even though she didn't feel like eating, she stuck a piece of orange in her mouth and tried to focus on how intense the color was. Anything to keep her mind off of Scorpius.

"_So_..." She heard the ever-familiar shrill voice of her cousin Molly behind her, which - she couldn't deny - sent an awful shiver up her spine. Rose often got the mental image of her own brain exploding each time the girl opened her mouth.

"Hey, Molly." Rose said dully, peeling back another piece of her orange and trying to ignore the fact that her least favorite cousin had just plopped down on the seat next to her.

"What's up with you and Scorpius?" Rose's mind came to a screeching halt as she stared at the girl, trying to mask the panic screaming in her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Molly smirked at the uneven tone Rose's question came in.

"Oh, Rosie." Molly was lounging in the seat next to her cousin now, fully enjoying the situation. "You think I wouldn't put everything together? Your absence at the party, his disappearance at the _same_ party. Your skittish behavoir all throughout the break. His solemn expression over there, and, well, you've got your own this morning."

"You've gone mental." Rose muttered, playing it off as best she could.

"Rosie!" Molly squealed, way too happily. Rose felt an odd iching sensation in her fist. "You know, we're a lot alike, you and me. Both cat lovers, both fans of blondes, both equally as smart as the other -- "

"And yet somehow I manage to kick the _ass_ out of every test score you've ever gotten." Rose snapped, grinning smugly as she gathered her things and rushed to the door.

"I really would be nicer to the girl that knows your secret!" Molly yelled across the Great Hall, causing several students to turn and look at her, then at Rose. She froze in her spot, and turned back to face Molly as she sauntered up to her cousin.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Molly." She muttered quietly enough so that only she could hear.

"Oh?" Molly said in her normal tone, "But I think I do. Just _think_ of what your mother will say when she finds out!" Rose's eyes narrowed in a glare.

"_What_?" She hissed through gritted teeth, no longer caring at the lingering eyes of a few first years.

"Oh, please." Molly rolled her eyes, "Your mother keeps her pensive in a very obvious place. Like I would pass that opportunity up." Rose's glare intensified.

"Mostly it was boring stuff. Legal papers, secret political meetings. Stuff she didn't want to forget, but didn't want anyone else to happen upon in her thoughts. Then, just as I was about to go about my business..._Your_ face popped up. Along with another little blonde. And I'm not talking about a Delacour." Molly winked, condescendingly.

"I have to go Molly." Rose said, trying to keep her calm while turning from her cousin.

"You already kissed him, what now? Are you pregnant with his child?" Rose skidded to a halt again.

"Molly." She warned quietly, still not facing her cousin.

"Well, I always knew Dom was a slut, but _Ro_--"

And with a loud cracking noise from Rose's fist, the entire Great Hall fell silent. After a fraction of a second, it turned into utter chaos. Students encircled the two girls, Rose on top of Molly, her fists swinging wildly. Rose heard Al calling her name, and she also heard a few professors yelling at students so that they could get through to put a stop to the fight. The crowd was so big, some students were standing halfway down their House tables just in an attempt to catch a glimpse. Rose didn't know what she was doing anymore, but she knew that she couldn't stop. She wasn't even thinking anymore -- it was like she was having an out of body experience. She knew she _should_ stop, but she didn't feel as though she had any control over her body anymore.

"_Rose_!" She heard Al's voice right behind her, and quickly felt his arms around her waist, pulling her off the girl. "What the hell's wrong with you?!" He yelled, grabbing one of her flailing arms and pulling her back a little.

"What is going on here?" Everyone froze as they heard their Headmistress' booming voice, and a sense of dread loomed in Rose's stomach as she calmed her flailing. Headmistress Stroulger was a very intimidating presence, to say the least. Her height certainly had a factor -- six feet even, though she seemed to grow another three when she got angry. This was no exception.

"Miss Weasley!" She frowned at Rose, then looked to Molly's bloodied face, "In my office, both of you." Rose felt the arms around her waist loosen. "No, Mr. Malfoy, you'd better come too."

_Malfoy_?! Rose's whole body stiffened as she looked down at the arms that held her. One thing was certain. They definitely weren't Al's.

"Yeah," Molly spoke up, holding her sleeve over her bloodied nose, "Wouldn't want the baby's _father_ to be left out!"

"LIAR!" Rose shrieked, and threw herself forward, almost breaking Scorpius' hold on her. "I'm gonna kill you!" She continued, kicking her feet up, trying anything to get free.

"Enough!" Professor Stroulger boomed, and Rose quickly stopped moving, though she didn't allow herself to lean against Scorpius. "In my office. Now."

--

It was dinner before Rose was allowed to go back to her normal schedule. She had spent all morning and most of the afternoon in the Headmistress' office, getting a good scolding from her. Then, she had to assure her about fifty times that she _wasn't_ actually pregnant. To make matters worse, Scorpius was sitting right next to her the whole time that discussion was going on. As the suspected father of her non existent baby, he would have to have a part in it, of course. If Rose could have picked her time of death, it would have been right before that ordeal. To make matters worse, goody-two-shoes Professor _Longbottom_ decided it would be a good idea to call her mother -- _and_ Scorpius' father!

Imagine Rose's joy when the two of them barged in together, each yelling their own version of "I told you to stay away from them, how could you be so stupid?" Then, of course, they had to yell at each other something like "And what do you mean by that? My child isn't good enough for your's?" Even the Headmistress couldn't shut them up for a while. When they _did_ shut up, Rose got a very, very _long_ talking to from Hermione. She suspected Scorpius got the same from his father, but she wouldn't really know. Who knew her mother could talk so much, and so _loud_? If she trusted herself enough to talk to him later, she would have had to apologize. He didn't even do anything, other than stop Rose from possibly killing her cousin.

It would've made Christmas time a little less expensive.

To make matters worse -- Molly didn't even get in trouble! She spent most of the day in the Hospital Wing, or so she heard. Rose wasn't exactly allowed to go visit, nor did she particularly care to. Rose was pretty much guaranteed a month's worth of detention. Heck, she would probably be grounded when she got home for summer if she weren't seventeen. Really, holidays weren't going to be a pretty picture after this. Uncle Percy was _already_ unpleasant.

Rose entered the Great Hall with much anxiety, and for good reason. As soon as she set foot through the doors, a great hush fell upon the tables. Rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath, Rose glanced at Slytherin table and saw something she should've expected, but really didn't want to see. Scorpius and Al staring at her. Quickly looking away, she set her eyes on most -- if not all -- of her family sitting at the Gryffindor table. And the expressions on their faces weren't exactly what one would call "welcoming". Then Rose noticed Molly sitting with them, and figured that was why. Dom was sitting off to the side, reading one of her obscure novels. She looked up when she heard the eerie quiet, then when she realized that the rest of the family probably wasn't going to accept the cause of Molly's previously broken nose, she got up and moved to the end of the table where Rose followed.

"Hey Red." She greeted, refilling her plate, "Have a good day?"

"You're pretending that didn't happen earlier?" Rose eyed her while setting her bag down.

"That was my plan." Dom agreed, taking a bite of turkey.

"Alright," Roxanne announced her presence, "I don't like that you hit a family member, but I like the one you hit even less." Rose grinned at her cousin. Roxanne was a year younger than Rose and Dominique, but she was always one of her favorites. And that last comment just bumped her up to new best friend. One of them, anyway.

"So it's okay if we talk about it?" Dom asked carefully, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not like I regret it." Rose shrugged, then she realized what she said was actually true. Did she really not regret it? Usually Rose felt remorse for possibly hurting a stranger's feelings. She made Molly _bleed_. A _lot_. And she didn't feel bad? Go figure.

"Good." Dom sighed, stretching her arms. "'Cause I didn't really know how I was gonna keep that up." Rose laughed.

"Man," Roxanne started, resting her chin on her fist, "I should've gone without the hair band this morning. Wish I could've seen it."

"Imagine my surprise to get into Charms and hear that one of my cousins had been punched repeatedly in the face by another one of my cousins -- my best friend no less." Dom mused, poking around her peas.

"Well, if I had known I was going to punch Molly, I would've made sure you two stuck around." Rose laughed softly, then her stomach reminded her how little food she had eaten all day. She quickly dug into a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"So, uhm...I heard about what she was saying..." Roxanne trailed off quietly. Rose shook her head while she swallowed her food.

"'S a lie." She mumbled. "Just because no one's interested in her skirts, she has to spread rumors about mine."

"So you really did punch her just because of that?" Dom questioned, skeptically.

"Well..." Rose started, debating if it would be a good idea to tell her the truth or not, "She kinda...called you a whore." Dom's jaw dropped.

"I -- whu..._What_?!" She stuttered, dropping her fork.

"You're more of a virgin than _she_ is!" Roxanne said between insane fits of laughter.

"...Well." Dom said after shaking her head a few times and clearing her throat. "Thank you for...defending my honor." The other two girls started laughing, and continued on with their dinner.

Rose's moral of this story?

...Well, she just got another reason to stay away from Scorpius Malfoy.

Is that a moral?

--

**Okay, I tried as hard as I could to think of a cliffhanger, but I couldn't.**

**So, the last line was a little...bleh.**

**Anyway, I didn't want to make it too long, so...tell me what you think!  
Stay tuned for next time!**


	5. A Million Pieces

**Back with another chapter!**

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**I start college tomorrow, so I'll probably be very tired from tomorrow on. xP**

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A Million Pieces

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" She jerked her head up from it's resting place on her knees and stared at the young man in front of her, tears still streaming down her face. But he didn't sit down next to her, he just stared at her with a sad expression on his face. In the back of her mind, Rose knew what was going on, she'd had the dream before, but it wasn't going the way it always did.

"Why won't you sit next to me?" She asked, feeling the lump in her throat grow with each word. His expression grew more agonized.

"You won't let me."

Rose's eyes snapped open and started to focus in the dimly lit dormitory. It took a few moments of her staring, wide eyed to realize that her cheeks were wet. And it took her just a few moments longer to realize that they were wet from her own tears. Instantly, she sat up, a hand flying to her face. After the initial surprise faded, she was faced with the oddest feeling of sadness. And that's when she remembered the dream. It was an hour before she actually had to get up and start getting ready, but she knew there was no hope of going back to sleep. And she was sure she didn't want to. Her dreams had a nasty habit of replaying themselves all night. Quickly but carefully, Rose hopped up from her bed and stumbled to the bathroom. It would probably be another half an hour before her fellow Gryffindor girls would start to wake, and she wanted to make sure she was fully recovered before they could get suspicious.

It wasn't totally unlike Rose to get up early and study, after all. She did have a History of Magic exam today. She could play it off. All she had to do was pull herself together.

After cranking the hot water nob all the way up in the shower, Rose stepped in. Her once wet and sticky cheeks quickly turned back to normal as the water did it's job. But what the water couldn't fix was the unshakable feeling of sadness that still had a hold of her. Dreams had a funny hold over a person. For Rose, it wasn't ever so much what actually happened in the dream, it was the overall tone of the dream. She had just felt so sad. She couldn't remember a time where she had woken up from a dream crying.

Rose remembered having a dream similar to that before. Back when she first met Scorpius, when her mother first told her to stay away from him. And then every time she was forced to listen to every stupid story about how awful the Malfoy family was. But they had never made her that sad before. In her past dreams, he had always sat down beside her. It may not be a particularly moving dream to anyone else, but they always meant something to her. As she got older, the dreams were few and far between. When she did have them, often times she would just be frustrated or angry. Why was she still having these dreams of him? Since that day, she had tried everything to get him out of her head. Nothing really seemed to work, obviously. Just as she thought she was over it, the thoughts would come creeping back into her head.

The sound of the bathroom door opening brought Rose out of her thoughts and she stuck her face back underneath the hot water. It was going to get crowded soon, and she didn't want to be in the way of the girl's "beauty time". That was a potentially dangerous situation, she'd done it before. After shutting off the water, she wrapped a towel around herself and went to get dressed before she stuck her face in her History of Magic notes.

--

"You still have detention?" Roxanne groaned across the dinner.

"Yep." Rose nodded over her soup.

"It's been like two weeks!"

"Look." Rose paused, setting her spoon down. "I'd rather have two more months of detention than do another bloody pregnancy test." The memory sent shudders down her spine, but it caused both Dom and Roxanne to laugh.

"I can't believe your mom made you take three." Roxanne said after her laughter had subsided.

"I'm just glad I didn't have to see my dad's face when she told him I might be pregnant with a Malfoy child." The redheaded shrugged, picking up her spoon again.

"I don't get it." her ebony skinned cousin suddenly declared. "How can Al be best friends with Malfoy, but you can't have anything to do with him? I mean, his dad had it out for Uncle Harry the most, right? Why are your parents still holding on to old grudges?" Rose stared at her, dumbly. In one breath, she had just expressed every question that Rose didn't want to think about.

"Don't get me wrong, I know you hate him!" Roxanne said, mistaking her stare for something else, "I'm just saying, you know. It's weird." She finished her sentence quietly before digging back into her food. Rose blinked a few times before answering.

"Oh...yeah, I don't know. I think it's the way he still treats my mum. At the office and stuff." She muttered into a spoonful of soup. The trio was silent for a moment longer, each consumed by their own thoughts.

"Oh, bullocks." Dom said suddenly, "I have to go. Potions tutoring." She finished, grimly.

"Geez, Dom, you've had tutoring every night this week." Rose stated, looking up from her empty bowl.

"Well it's not quite the same as writing lines in detention." Dom sneered, causing Rose to stick her tongue out at the girl. "I'll see you later."

"Speaking of which." Roxanne started, watching her blonde cousin hurry out of the Great Hall, "Rosie...when does your detention start again?"

"Oh bloody -- "

--

"Late again, Miss Weasley?" Professor Crisswell mused from his paperwork. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had always been one of her favorites, so Rose didn't really mind being in detention with him.

Except for today.

The flash of platinum blonde hair sitting in the classroom was enough to make her want to run screaming.

"Well?" The professor looked up at the girl, "Your usual seat, please."

"Uh -- sorry." She muttered, casting her gaze downward and shuffling to the desk she always sat in. Unfortunately, it was only two seats away from the very last person she had wanted to see.

"You know the drill. I want a thousand lines of "I will not fight". Then you can go." Rose nodded and got out some parchment and her quill.

"Back to work, Mr. Malfoy." Rose's eyes snapped in his direction before she could even think about it. Scorpius had been looking at her, but for how long? Was it just an innocent glance, like every student was guilty of when another person walked into their classroom? But his restrained grin told her otherwise. He wanted to talk to her, she knew it.

Rose had been avoiding him since the party, and she was pretty good at it. Of course, she hadn't seen the grounds in a while. Most of her avoidance plan consisted of her hiding in the Seventh Year Gryffindor girl's dorm. The whole "pregnancy" incident actually helped her in avoiding the boy. Now she didn't have to think of a lie to tell Dom in order for her help in getting Malfoy to stay away. How oddly things were falling into place.

Until now, of course.

All Rose had to do was just write extra slow tonight. He would have to leave when he was finished writing his lines, and she would have to stay. Perfect plan. Rose smiled to herself as she picked up her quill and slowly began to write.

--

"Merlin you to are slow tonight!" Professor Crisswell yelled, two hours later. Rose jumped involuntarily at the volume of his voice. Apparently that had been the professor's intent, since she looked up to see him grinning. "Go, leave. I don't want you two falling asleep in my class tomorrow." Rose's eyes widened.

"But, Professor -- "

"I know you're an over achiever, Miss Weasley, but you really should take detention assignments so seriously."

"But -- "

"Go." He said, with a wave of his hand. Scorpius was already out of his seat, and handing his parchment to the teacher. He started to slowly gather his things, and Rose saw her only opportunity. Quickly, she threw her things in her bag, handed her assignment to Professor Crisswell and flew out the door. If she could just make it around the corner...

"Rose!" Damn.

She knew the boy couldn't be that far behind her, his legs were much longer. But the corner was just right there, she could hear a few people still in the Great Hall. She was picking up her speed when she felt his hand wrap around her wrist.

"Wait." He pleaded, but she turned around in a glare.

"Let go of me, Malfoy." She spat, continuing her glare. His face looked a little surprised at first, then amused, then the cocky smirk he always had on when they fought.

"Not until we talk."

"There's nothing to talk about!" Rose snapped, turning around and trying to wrench her wrist out of his hand. She heard him sigh behind her.

"Fine, we'll do it the hard way." Before she could demand he tell her what he meant by that, she found out. In a movement so fast it made her head spin, he lifted her off the ground and slung her over one of his shoulders.

"What the -- hell?! PUT ME DOWN!" Rose protested loudly, flailing her limbs pathetically. He carried her down the hallway, ignoring her protests, and she heard him kick open a door.

"Now, you're going to talk to me, or you're just going to have to stay on my shoulder all night." He said in a calm tone, despite how many times she had kicked him in the stomach. "I'm fine either way." She could hear the smirk in his voice and was immediately aware of how close his hand was to her rear end.

"Okay!" She yelled, kicking her legs again. "I'll talk to you! Just put me down!"

"Good." He said pleasantly, pulling her down from his shoulder, "And don't try to run, I'm stronger and faster than you."

"Not on the Pitch." Rose muttered, instinctively. When both of her feet were firmly planted on the floor, she saw the smirk that she so hated. Rather...she so wished that she hated. After blinking a few times, trying to get back the right mind set, she paced over to the window and turned back around. "What do you want?" Her tone was more hostile than anything else. Mainly because she hated the new feeling of being comfortable around him.

"We need to talk."

"You already said that, genius." The redhead raised her brow and crossed her arms, "About what?"

"You know what." He answered, all the humor in his expression gone. It took Rose a minute to get her thoughts together again.

"About you drinking the punch at the Ministry party? Yeah, you know you should never do that. Don't worry, though, I won't tell anyone. Let's just forget about it." She rambled as she headed towards the door, though she knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"Rose." His calm voice stopped her, and she rolled her eyes.

"What do you want me to say, Scorpius?" She sighed, then realized she had addressed him by his first name. But maybe her cover wasn't blown just yet. He seemed to enjoy calling her by her first name. She could just be...getting back at him.

Oh, her excuses weren't even fooling her. This was not going well.

"I want you to tell me what you're thinking" Oh, great. They were opening that can of worms.

"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out."

"Rose."

"Stop saying my name!" She whipped around, suddenly angry. "What did you expect me to say? We've hated each other for years, fought every day, our parents hate each other! You were raised to hate my kind, and don't lie and say you weren't, because I've heard stories about your dad." He just stared at her with an unreadable expression.

"You think I'm my father?"

"We--...Well," She stuttered, a bit taken back by the way the conversation turned.

"Are you your mother?"

"No!" Rose yelled, a little offended. Most teenage girls didn't really enjoy being compared to their mothers.

"I never hated you, Rose." The Weasley opened her mouth to say something, but the closed it again. She looked at the floor, then sighed in great frustration.

"How do you feel right now?" She looked at him like he had just grown three extra faces.

"Annoyed!" Before she knew it, he had his arms wrapped around her in a hug. Her immediate and involuntary response was to tense every muscle in her body.

"Relax. There's no one else around." He was right, and for his sake, she slowly started to allow herself to relax. She would get this over with soon enough, if she would just go along with it, right?

"Now how do you feel?" He asked when he was sure she had calmed herself.

"Warmer than I was." She said, not pausing after his question.

"Not what I meant, Rose." He sighed, but held onto her, obviously waiting for a different answer. She sighed.

Weren't girls the usually the ones that wanted to talk about feelings? Rose hated talking about feelings, she avoided it as much as she could. She hated even thinking about it. Emotions made her feel weak, or embarrassed. She would much rather just joke her way out of the situation. Apparently that was not going to work tonight. So, she closed her eyes and opened up the box of emotions that she had always avoided opening. How did she really feel?

Well, she knew one thing. She was in no hurry to leave. Of course, she was still frustrated. But she realized now that she was more frustrated with herself than anything else. And then her mind wandered back to that day twelve years ago. Then the dream she had the other night. Why was Scorpius such a huge part of her life? He invaded her mind at some point every day. She got inexplicably angry every time she saw a girl throwing herself at him. She had never actually had a steady boyfriend before, because they never just seemed to match up to the standards in her head. Trying to picture herself with Scorpius, she realized --

"Oh...bullocks." She muttered, her eyes as big as half dollars.

"What?" He asked, looking down at her curiously. She pushed him away, her face incredulous.

"When the hell did I fall in love with you?!"

--

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	6. Stay

**Okay, so I just realized that the words that I meant to have in italics in the last chapter...weren't. Sorry about that. But it would be a pain in my side to go back and**

**fix it now, so I'm hoping all you smart children can tell where I wanted them.**

**Really wish freakin' WordPad had a spellcheck, so I wouldn't have to copy and paste**

**into my AOL mail.**

**But I digress.**

**And now I'm accepting anonymous reviews.**

**I would've been earlier, but I hadn't noticed, so, thanks to hondagirl for pointing it out!**

**Now on with the story.**

--

Stay

_"When the hell did I fall in love with you?!"_

Scorpius blinked in obvious surprise, then he looked like he was trying extremely hard not to laugh. Rose looked him with the same incredulous expression that she had when she first came to her horrific realization.

"I don't see the humor in this, blondie!" She cried, throwing her hands up in the air and pacing back to the window.

"That's a shame." Scorpius began, letting a few chuckles escape, "Because it's really pretty funny." Rose whipped around and threw a death glare at him, his expression softened, but there was still a light humor dancing in his eyes.

"I can't tell you when you fell in love with me," He spoke softly, and took a step in her direction, his hands up in a peaceful gesture, "But I can tell you when _I_ fell in love with you."

"Please." Rose said flatly, holding up a hand and pacing away from him again. "Let _me_ be the girl in this relationship." A dead silence followed her statement, and a horrified expression crossed her features. What had she just said?

"_Relationship_?" Rose could just hear the smirk in that single word. She whipped around for the millionth time that night, slightly worried that she was going to permanently throw her spine off track. It one could actually accomplish that.

"That's not what I meant!" She managed to splutter out. "Scorpius -- I thought you understood after what happened at the party -- we _can't_."

"What happened at the party?" He teased, "I was too wasted on the punch."

"Not. Funny." She glared, crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry," He apologized, leaning back on a desk, "I'm just trying to get you to lighten up about the situation."

"The _situation_?" Rose raised her brow at his classification.

"What would you prefer I call it?"

"Uh, how about _disaster_?" His face showed obvious lack of amusement for her joke.

"That's not funny, Rose." She frowned and tried to fight the feeling of her foot in her mouth.

"Oh, what?" She muttered, leaning against the nearby wall, "You're allowed to joke, but I'm not?"

"_Was_ it a joke?" She blinked.

"Yes!...Maybe." Rose furrowed her brow and put a hand to her temple. There was definitely a headache coming on.

"You think our feelings are a disaster?" He questioned, and Rose couldn't shake the feeling that her words had actually hurt him.

"Well -- they're going to _create_ a disaster!" She cried, throwing her hands up in the air and then burying her face in them. Neither of them made any noise until Rose let out a loud sigh.

"Do you want to just pretend this never happened?" Scorpius asked, his voice soft.

"Yes." She muttered miserably into her hands. Slowly, she let them fall back down to her side and she stared sadly at Scorpius.

"But I know I would never be able to." She said, straightening her back against the wall. He smiled, trying and failing to hide his happiness. In a few seconds that seemed more like hours, Scorpius had made his way off the desk he was perched on, and had both hands on either side of Rose's face. Rose, much to her surprise, couldn't help but grin up at him.

"I love you, Rose Weasley." He whispered as if he were telling her a secret. "I always have, and I always will." He lowered his face down, intending on kissing her, but she stopped him by placing a hand on his cheek. Her expression was clearly trying to hide her skepticism.

"_Always_?" He grinned.

"Rose. How many times have you hit me and called me Ferret-Face?" She laughed, and the movement made them both realize how close they were to what they both wanted. As his lips covered her's, Rose was violently aware of how addictive they were.

--

"Rose Weasley!" Dom shouted in the corridor, causing several First Years to jump and scurry away, "I swear, you're just _trying_ to get detention these days!"

Rose rolled her eyes. The month of detention that she had gotten from beating the snot out of Molly had come and gone, but the eldest daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley still found herself in detention every night. She wasn't doing anything _radical_, just some harmless fun. Mostly involving a few tricks from the family business. Other times it was just a punch or two given to Scorpius Malfoy that landed her a seat in detention. Of course, he would find some other way to land himself a spot right next to her. No one seemed to be the wiser. All pregnancy rumors had been squashed after Rose yelled it across the Great Hall at dinner one evening. One could call the action "blunt", but when a girl's had enough, she's had enough.

"Dom, why would I _try_ to get in detention?" Rose rolled her eyes, "I'm just...having a little fun before we graduate. I think I've been a good girl long enough to deserve a little play time."

"You realize your parents are probably gonna be called up her any day now, right?"

"So?" The redhead shrugged and moved her old backpack higher up on her shoulder. Dom grabbed her cousin's arm and pulled her into an empty corridor.

"What's your problem, Dom?" Rose asked, trying to regain her balance.

"No, what's _your_ problem, Red?" Her face was stern, and showed more emotion than Rose had ever seen, "You're acting out every chance you get, do you just _want_ to get detention every day for the rest of your Hogwarts career?"

"Yes, Dom, that's exactly what I want. I'm glad you finally figured it out." The sarcasm was so thick it was practically dripping in the air. Dom glared.

"Rose, I'm _worried_ about you. I hardly ever see you anymore, you're always getting into trouble!"

"Dom..." Rose started, suddenly feeling very guilty, "There's nothing to be worried about! I'm fine! And I'm not hurting anyone...except for Malfoy. But you've never had a problem with that before."

"It's not just me that's worried, Rose, it's Rox and Al, too. He said you're getting in trouble as much as..." Suddenly there was an idea that spread across her face, she stared at Rose, fully concentrated on her cousin's reaction. "_Scorpius_."

Rose's face was blank at first, then she raised her brow.

"You think this is about Ferret-Face?" She questioned, her tone skeptical. That was enough to make Dom visibly second guess herself. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll cool it on the rebellious phase. Let's just get to dinner before I'm late for detention again."

Dom gave her cousin a half hearted smile and nod before the two girls took off towards the Great Hall.

--

She pushed the familiar door open, fully aware of every inch between her and her companion. The air in the Defense Against The Dark Arts room had been so thick, it was hard for her to breathe. Even Professor Crisswell seemed to be uncomfortable, though Rose was pretty sure the man was oblivious to the situation. She wasn't sure what to do with herself anymore. Any time she saw, or even _thought_ about Scorpius, her blood started to boil. At first it really freaked her out, but then she realized her affect of him seemed to be much the same. Quite frankly, that wasn't too bad for her self esteem.

"Close the door." She whispered as quietly as she could, oddly excited that she knew he was following her. He was following _her_. For _her_. Not just for...well, her _body_, though she had a feeling it wasn't something he forgot about. Rose had kissed boys before, but it was never anything like how she kissed Scorpius. And it had never felt even remotely similar. It thrilled her, but scared her at the same time. Lucky for Scorpius, the thrill outweighed the fear.

Swiftly, as if she had practiced, Rose walked to the deserted teacher's desk and turned around just in time for Scorpius to scoop her up by her thighs and set her on top of it. It took even a shorter amount of time for his lips to find her's. And then they were going at it like they had been for weeks now. His lips on her throat, her hands in his hair, his fingers trailing down her back...

It had gotten so intense that Rose couldn't even think as it was going on. They could have had an audience clapping and jeering, and she wouldn't have noticed. Maybe it was the way the room was so cold, and he was so warm that sent the thrills up her spine. Maybe it was even that he was someone she was forbidden to be with, and yet here she was? Maybe both of those reasons were applicable, but Rose knew the core reason.

She was in love. And her love was returned.

It was as if Rose had been living in misery her whole life without knowing it. She didn't have bad dreams anymore. No, she was actually sleeping _quite_ better. And the change hadn't gone without notice. Dom, Roxanne and Albus had all made comments on how much more chipper she was in the morning. At least she could blame it on the mischief she was making. She wasn't sure how well she would fair if their rendevouz had to end. It drove her crazy just thinking about it. But the affair was starting to get dangerous. In Potions class the other day, she was getting the components that she needed when she felt Scorpius come up behind her. It was so fast that she could be sure no one saw, but she felt his hand graze her lower back and then his thumb brushed her own hand as he reached to get something on the other side of the table. If he didn't notice her blush, or the way her heart accelerated, there would have been something seriously wrong with him.

She pulled his body closer to her's, however impossible the task seemed to be. Her tug had thrown him off balance for a moment and he chuckled without totally breaking their kiss. When she felt his hand on her thigh, it didn't exactly calm her down. She buried her hands in his hair again, and arched her back so that she was as close to him as she could be. He started to chuckle again as he pulled away -- which was not an easy task.

"Woah, woah," Scorpius laughed, retrieving her hands from his hair and holding them to his chest, "Where's the fire, Freckles?" He was allowed to use that name now, for reasons Rose herself really didn't quite understand. The nickname just meant something different to her now. It seemed more affectionate. Rose raised her brow at him, her breathing ragged.

"What, I'm more into this than _you_?" She asked. He laughed again.

"I don't think that's possible."

"Oh? Then why are we stopping?"

"Because we've been here for an hour and a half. I think Dominique is going to notice if you're missing for much longer." She craned her neck to look through the window on the other side of the room. The moon was shining brightly, clearly having moved from it's previous spot. She sighed, and he helped her slide down from the desk.

"Time flies." She mused, quietly and heard his grunt of agreement. Before they got to the door, Rose stopped and faced the boy.

"I love you." Rose said quietly, still self conscious about saying it out loud. He grinned and tilted her chin up as he pressed his lips to her's again.

"I love you, too, Rose." The words were as genuine as always, but there was something behind them and something behind his eyes. It had happened a few times before, and Rose didn't like it one bit. She scrunched up her nose.

"Don't say it like that."

"Like what?" He asked, a little surprised.

"Like you're saying goodbye."

--

**Blah, blah. I know it's short.**

**I didn't want to end it here, but I didn't want the day to be over without an update.**

**Love it, hate it? Leave me a review, babes!**


	7. Pressure

**Has anyone noticed that I'm using song titles for each of my chapters?  
Well, I have been.  
They're songs that I feel fit the mood of the chapter.  
Yay for you if you noticed! ;D  
Thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far!  
And if you haven't...no time like the present.**

--

Pressure

Rose woke groggier than she had been in a while. There wasn't a specific reason, no dreams to give her a restless night, so she just sat in bed for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. The crimson cover that wrapped around her reminded her of a warm cucoon. The thought was alluring, making her want to just fall back onto her pillow and forget about the day of classes ahead. That's why she unravelled herself and threw her feet onto the floor. The air in her dorm was warm enough, but she could tell the air outside was still freezing. She wrinkled her nose. Cold weather was not her favorite.

The redhead shuffled her way past her busied roommates without saying anything, and after rooming with her for seven years now, they expect no different. The cold water of the shower jolted her awake, and she quickly twisted the other nob. She had been so tired that she hadn't noticed how she turned the wrong nob. A deadly mistake. Okay, well maybe not so dramatic, but her surprised shriek _did_ earn her a few laughs outside the shower curtain. Images of last night flashed in her head and she smiled.

_"Like you're saying goodbye."_

The smile faded. Now she remembered what gave her a restless night. He said he hadn't meant it to come out like that, but she knew why it had. She felt it every time they were together. There was a goodbye looming over the young couple like a rain cloud. They made each kiss feel like it could be their last, and in all truth, it very well could be. Their relationship was a ticking time bomb. It was a secret now, but how much longer could it remain one? She was afraid that they were getting more and more careless, but she never thought very much about caution when she was with him. What if someone saw them? She could only imagine the catastophe that would follow. And even if they _weren't_ caught, what would they do after graduation? Rose wanted to be a Healer, and that didn't come cheap. She would have to live at home, would the excuses come easier there then at school? In theory they would, but Rose always had the worst time trying to lie to her father. It just wasn't how their relationship worked, Rose never had to hide anything from her father before. Minus the first occurance with Scorpius, but that lie was all her mother's doing. Where would everything stand after graduation? If they even made it that long?

"Hey, Red!" She heard Dom call outside the shower curtain, "Did you drown, or are you just paying extra attention to hygeine today?"

"Sorry Dom," She said, snapping out of her daze, "Guess I'm just out of it this morning."

"Well snap out of it, we're gonna miss breakfast."

--

The Great Hall was buzzing as usual as Rose and Dom entered through the large wooden doors. She glanced at the Slytherin table inconsipiculously, but couldn't find the one she was looking for. Rose was always careful about her search, she never knew who was watching. Mostly she suspected Molly, the cousins hadn't talked since Rose decked her. Not that she was complaining. The pair sat down at their usual spot near the end of the table, and Roxanne quickly joined them.

"Rose," She asked in her normal tone, then turned to a whisper, "Is it true?"

"What?" Rose squinted her eyes at her cousin after a moment, having expected her to say more. Roxanne looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What everyone's saying!" Rose stared dumbly at her cousin, still expecting her to say more.

"_What_?" She asked, trying her best to not lose her temper. Roxanne looked around and glared at a pair of Ravenclaw Second Years until they turned around. The redhead had to hide the little bit of pride that swelled in her heart. She taught Roxanne that trick.

"They're saying..." Her cousin lowered her voice again and leaned in across the table, causing the other two girls to do the same, "That someone saw you snogging with Scorpius Malfoy last night." Rose felt an imaginary piano drop on her head.

"WHAT?!" She yelled, causing several people to turn around an watch. Rose wasn't fooled, she knew that she had been their topic of gossip just seconds earlier. She turned her astonishment into insane laughter. "Are you bloody _kidding_ me?! Me and -- " Rose didn't finish her sentence, instead she broke out into laughter again. She was about to lie for her life. "That is bloody _disgusting_!" The redhead turned her amusement into disgust. "What kind of sick joke is that?!" The girl was talking loud enough for the whole Hall to hear her, and they were all definitely listening. "Find another fall girl for your pathetic little rumors! It's not my fault your lives are dull -- take it out on someone else!" Even the teachers were staring at her by that point, though she wasn't sure if they knew what was actually going on. "Now excuse me while I get some fresh air and try not to throw up over that mental image!"

Rose grabbed a bagel and with a brief grimace at Dom and Roxanne, she was out the doors and stumbling towards the grounds. The cool air hit her face and instantly brought the situation into light. Someone had seen the two of them last night. Someone saw them. Someone was witness to what they had been trying to keep hidden. Unwillingly, she bit into the bagel. She didn't feel much like eating, but she knew that she would need her strength today.

This was all such a pain. Why couldn't Scorpius have been born into another family? One that didn't have some stupid childhood vendetta against her parents. Her parents -- what if the rumor got back to them? She couldn't imagine how it would...it's not like Hugo had it out for her, though she hadn't seen him much this year. He was still going through that "everyone older than me is so stupid" phase. Unfortunately, that included her. She just figured that he would outgrow it. Still, she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away. What was going to happen now?

--

"Rose, it's gonna look bad if you don't show up for dinner." Roxanne paced the floor of the Gryffindor Seventh Year girl's dorm.

"Well, I don't _feel_ like going. It's not the first time I've just grabbed something from the kitchen." Rose, already pajama clad, slipped under her covers and began rumaging through her tattered school bag.

"Yeah," Her ebony skinned cousin continued to protest, "But after this morning, it's not a good idea!" Rose raised her brow.

"Why is it not a good idea?" Roxanne flung herself on Rose's bed.

"Because! You're the biggest subject of gossip in the school right now!"

"Technically," Rose started, her tone dull, "I would be _half_ of the biggest subject of gossip at the school right now." Roxanne wrinkled her nose, accepting that fact, but she wasn't finished just yet.

"Yeah, but..." She struggled to find convincing words. "It would still...look bad. You have to face it for it to go away!" Rose raised her brow again and stared at her cousin.

"I didn't do that this morning?" Roxanne opened her mouth to say something, but Rose continued before she could. "Look, Rox, I really appreciate the concern, but it'll be okay. It's just a rumor. And it's not exactly worse than the _pregnant_ one, trust me."

"Yeah, but it's the _second_ one about you and Malfoy -- "

"And that makes it more convincing?" Rose interrupted, "It'll blow over. No one has any proof. Besides, Dom's already gone to get us some food." Roxanne nodded, and was quiet for a minute. Rose began shuffling through her papers, trying to find the DADA essay that she had been working on.

"Rose?"

"What, Rox?" She asked, still focused on her papers.

"You said that no one had any proof...like there _was_ some." Rose kept her expression in check as she looked up to meet her cousin's enquiring eyes. Then she sighed.

"Oh, Merlin, Rox. You believe them?" She questioned, hoping the trick would work.

"No, no!" She denied, her eyes wide. "I was just -- It only sounded like -- "

"It's okay, it's okay!" Rose laughed, putting her papers down just as Dom came through the door with an armful of food.

"Alright, ladies." Dom spoke, carefully setting the food down on Rose's bed. "I have to eat fast, so hurry up and get your grub outta my way."

"Where do you have to go in such a hurry?" Rose asked, picking up her own plate.

"Potions tutoring." She replied with a slice of turkey already filling her mouth.

"_Again_?" Rose questioned, stopping what she was doing and staring at her cousin. Dom stared back.

"Well, yes Rose." She started, her dull tone back, "Not all of us are blessed with the ability to be amazing at everything. Others have to work at it."

"Psh." Rose muttered, a little embarrassed, "I'm not amazing at everything..."

"You're right," Dom smirked, "I've seen you try to dance."

Rose hit both of her cousins with a pillow around the end of the five minute mark when they didn't stop laughing.

--

The morning had started out well enough. It was sunny outside, promising warmer weather for the day. Rose had actually slept well, and none of the girls had managed to get any of their dinner spilt on Rose's bed. Really, that's all she could ask for. She had a test in Potions and History of Magic -- both of which, she was completely prepared for. Not that anyone would be surprised. And, as she, Dom and Roxanne walked into the Great Hall, it seemed that she was no longer a topic of gossip.

Well, maybe she was, but no one was pointing and staring. Any more than usual, anyway.

There was the familiar sound of wings flapping and birds screeching, and Rose absentmindedly wondered if her copy of _Broomsticks_ would come today. It was a new Quidditch magazine, one that actually had decent articles. She stuck a spoonful of cereal in her mouth as she saw Pig -- the family owl -- swoop in front of her. Dom and Roxanne, who had been caring on a conversation immediately stopped as Rose dropped her spoon back into the bowl, causing milk to splash over the table.

In front of her sat a crimson red envolope.

"Oooh! Malfoy has a Howler!" Someone yelled across the room, and Rose felt a panic threatening her heart.

"Run." Dom said, shoving the letter at Rose. She didn't have to say it twice. Before the thought even registered, Rose was just a blur of crimson hair and black robes, streaking down the hallway. In the back of her mind, she knew that Scorpius would do the same. Running was the best thing a person could do when they got a Howler. As if the idea of getting one wasn't humiliating enough -- everyone else hearing it was worse.

Rose flung the door of an empty classroom open, just in time for the red envolope to burn her fingers. Stupid Howlers. They were embarrassing _and_ they turned into flames if you didn't open them soon enough.

"ROSE LYNN WEASLEY!" She groaned as she heard her mother's furious voice come from the envolope floating in front of her face. "WHAT IS THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU SNOGGING SCORPIUS MALFOY IN AN EMPTY CLASSROOM? AND ALL THE MAYHEM YOU HAVE BEEN CAUSING? PROFESSOR LONGBOTTOM TOLD ME EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT. IF I'VE TOLD YOU ONCE, I'VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, ROSE WEASLEY, _STAY AWAY_ FROM SCORPIUS MALFOY! YOU ARE TREDDING ON _THIN_ ICE, ROSE. YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T TELL YOUR FATHER ABOUT THIS! IF I GET WIND OF ANY MORE ASSOCIATING WITH THAT BOY, WE WILL PULL YOU OUT OF SCHOOL. IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO SEND YOU TO BEAUXBATONS. NOW, YOU DO AS I SAY." Rose stared in horror as the envolope began to rip itself up.

Her mother had threatened to send her to Beauxatons a few times before when she had acted up, but never had she sounded like she meant it. She shuddered at the thought. _Beauxbatons_? Every French Quidditch team that came out of France was rubbish! She couldn't possibly play Quidditch on their school teams...did they even _have_ school teams? Rose snapped out of her terror as she noticed she heard a man's muffled voice. He sounded like he was yelling. Timidly, she opened the door to the classroom that she had sought refuge in, and followed the voice.

" -- NOW YOU STAY AWAY FROM THAT GIRL!" Was about all she had caught of it before she heard the ripping sound. And, really, that's all she needed to hear. It took her a moment of deep breaths before she slowly pushed the door open. Scorpius only glanced up from his spot, perched on an empty desk. Rose didn't look at him until she had shut the door. The two stared off in silence, the air in the room cold and dull.

"Rose -- " Scorpius began so softly, it was barely more than a whisper.

"It's not fair!" Her voice was quiet, but much harsher. There were tears stinging her eyes a she began to pace the room.

"I know." He gazed at the ground, not able to look at her.

"They're making _us_ pay for their stupid, _pointless_ grudges!" Her voice was shaky, but louder now.

"What did they threaten you with?" He asked gently, after a long, unstable silence. She took a deep breath, trying to will the tears away. After a moment, she turned around with an attempt at a smile.

"Beauxbatons." Her smile was pathetic, she knew it. He glanced up at her, only to quickly look down again. It must have been more pathetic than she thought. It took her another moment to make her voice steady. "What about you?"

"Abandonment." He glanced up again with a small smile that was on the verge of a grimace. He held Rose's gaze, though she had to look away seconds later. Her heart grew heavier. Her mother had only threatened to move her to another school, his father had threatened to _disown_ him?

"It's an empty threat." Scorpius shrugged, though Rose wasn't entirely convinced. "I'm the only thing he has left." Besides insane wealth, of course. But Rose knew what he meant. His mother had died during his second year of Hogwarts. She didn't remember how, but she did remember his absence two weeks before the Christmas holidays. She hadn't been sure at the time if Scorpius would be back for the rest of the year, but he came back at the end of Christmas break. Just as obnoxious as ever, but Rose noticed the new sadness he carried around. It was harder to fight with him after that.

"We have to stop, Scorpius." Her voice was small and quiet in the big, empty room. He didn't say anything, just continued to look at the floor.

"No." His voice was unstable, but his eyes were hard.

"We have to. I won't be the reason your family falls apart." He stood up and strode over to Rose, grabbing both of her arms.

"I can't let you go, Rose. I _love_ you." Tears made their way back into Rose's eyes as she saw the desperate, frustrated look in his own.

"You'll find someone else." He started shaking his head. "Scorpius, please." She barely whispered, not able to keep a tear from flowing down her cheek. His eyes softened, then became unreadable. Slowly, he brought one of his hands up to wipe the tear away. She caught it and gave it a soft kiss. Seconds after that, she was out in the halls, heading away from all the voices she heard. The knot in her throat tightened, and she ducked into an empty bathroom.

Her mind felt like one big, muddled _mess_. The very last thing she had wanted to do was leave him in that room. But that was exactly what she had to do. She ducked into a stall, feeling queasy. The knot in her throat was so tight that it hurt to swallow, and she couldn't hold them in anymore. With one shaky sob, the tears flowed over her freckled skin. She leaned heavily against the side of the stall, trying to keep the volume of her sobs under control, in case someone came in.

No one did.

--

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	8. Anywhere

**Back with another chapter, eh?  
Sorry it took a bit long. Real life does get in the way sometimes.  
Anyway, hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.  
Remember to review, loves!**

--

Anywhere

The days passed by in monotonous blurs that were quick and yet unbearably slow at the same time. Rose couldn't keep track of the days. Sometimes she would wake up early on the weekends to get ready for class, only to have Dom push her back into bed. Rose tried her best to act normal after she left Scorpius for the last time, but it took much more energy than she had. She wasn't quite a _zombie_...at least she didn't _think_ she was a zombie. But her heart wasn't in any of her witty little comebacks, or any new topic of gossip. Her heart was somewhere else.

"Alright, Red." Dom spoke up on their way to Herbology. "It's been _weeks_. What is the _deal_?"

"I told you, Dom." Rose started, only half paying attention. They had the same conversation nearly every day. "There's nothing wrong with me, I'm just _tired_."

"Of what?" Rose blinked.

"Nothing...I'm just _sleepy_."

"Rose!" Dom exclaimed, getting frustrated, "You sleep _all the time_! You can't possibly be tired!"

"Well I _am_." Rose snapped, her voice still level. Dom sighed.

"It's about Scorpius, isn't it?" She asked, quietly. Rose stopped suddenly, wheeling to face her cousin.

"Why the _hell_ would it have anything to do with _him_?" She glared.

"Geez, Red, bipolar much?" Dom scowled and continued to walk, "I was just _asking_. Neither of you have been yourselves lately."

"Why do _you_ care about Malfoy?" She hoped that the informality would help her seperate herself more from the boy.

"I don't." The blonde shrugged, "But if he has something to do with why you've been acting like this, I'd like to know."

"Well he doesn't, so you can just -- "

"Yeah?" Dom interrupted, "So, why haven't you two been fighting like always?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rose asked, clearly stalling for time.

"Apparently not." She mused, raising her brow at the redhead.

"Whenever I'm around him, people spread rumors. Now I'm just...trying the opposite."

"That's stupid and you know it, Rose. Now, I _know_ -- "

"What?" Rose hissed, "You know _what_, Dom? Don't act like you know what's going on, because you don't! Okay?" Without another word, the girl raced off to the Greenhouses.

--

She was sitting in class, tuning out Professor Longbottom's droaning voice. What did _Dom_ know? Rose had been in love with Scorpius Malfoy since she was five years old. Sure _Rose_ didn't even realize it until a couple of months ago, but --

"Rose?" Professor Longbottom broke into her thoughts, "Are you paying attention?"

"Yes, Professor." She said in a dull, uninterested tone. That moron. It had been _his_ fault that their parents found out about the possibility of she and Scorpius to begin with! They might've been able to avoid this _entire_ mess if he hadn't stuck his big, ugly nose in to begin with! And to think, Rose had known him her whole life. He was practically part of the family. She _thought_ that she could trust him with anything. Apparently he was just her mother's spy.

"Then can you tell me where the Spectorus plant is usually found?" She couldn't stop herself.

"Up your ass?"

--

Rose Weasley sat in her ever familiar seat in the ever familiar room that was ever familiar _detention_. She didn't know what to think of herself. She _wasn't_ herself. Earlier she had snapped at Dom, then she was _completely_ disrespectful to Professor Longbottom. The comment was uncalled for, she knew it. He was only doing what he thought was right. She was just being incredibly immature, and really pretty selfish. Sure, she had her own problems, but so did everyone. Of course, other's problems probably didn't include a forbidden romance...but she couldn't continue acting the way she was. Wandering around, _trying_ to get her mind off of Scorpius, but failing entirely. She had become disinterested in anything that her friends and family were going through. The only thing she was really focusing on was school and studying, and even that only went so far. Rose wasn't really the type to have to read things over again. Blame it on her mother. So, she was left with a lot of time just to feel sorry for herself, and try to avoid thinking of a way out of her situation, because she knew of only one. To get over it.

Needless to say, easier said than done.

"You can go now, Rose, it's getting late." Professor Crisswell said, not looking up from the assignments he was grading.

"Thank you, Professor." She said quietly and politely. She would be on her best behavoir from now on. The teacher looked up from his desk, with one eyebrow raised at her tone, but didn't say anything. At a normal pace, she gathered her things and shoved them into the bag that she's had since First Year.

The air outside the classroom was warmer than usual, though it couldn't be rightly called _warm_. She couldn't hear any chatter around, so she assumed that dinner had long since been over. Rose hadn't gone, opting instead to snag something quick from the Kitchens. Which really is no small feat, being the daughter of Hermione Weasley -- the woman who improved house elf rights or something. Rose didn't really know what she did, all she knew was that the house elves were now extremely enthusiastic fans of the Weasley clan. Rose had managed to make it out of there with only a roast beef sandwich and an apple -- it was a miracle. Her vision blurred, and Rose tried to blink it away, then just reached her hand up to wipe her eyes. She really was tired all the time nowadays. A sudden loud rip and the feeling of something moving in her bag suddenly woke Rose from her sleepy state.

"Bullocks." She muttered, looking down at her ripped bag still hanging on her shoulder while the previous contents lay on the floor underneath. With a deep sigh and a roll of her eyes, the redhead squatted down and began to retrieve her belongings.

"Let me help you." A voice said from in front of her, she noticed that they were already reaching down for one of her books.

"No, thanks, I -- " Then she stopped, her eyes growing wide. She knew that voice.

"Scorpius?!" She whispered, suddenly worried. "What are you doing? Someone will see us -- go!"

"I don't care, Rose -- "

"Scorpius." She held out her hand for a moment before pulling her wand out and fixing her bag with a simple charm. "We've already been over this." Her voice was calm, but her insides were anything but. Every fiber of her being was on fire, clearly trying to express how much she wanted to close the distance between them, and to kiss him, and just have him hold her. But her mind was set. She wasn't going to be the reason his family fell apart. He waited and watched her begin to shove her belongings into her newly repaired bag.

"I know we have, believe me. I haven't forgotten." The blonde replied grimly, "But I can't stand this anymore, Rose."

"It's going to be hard, Scorpius, you just have to give it time." She continued to brush him off as she shoved the rest of her books into her bag and threw the strap over her shoulder.

"It's been long enough, Rose, and it's only gotten harder." His hand reached out and caught her wrist and she turned to leave. She stopped herself from running back to him, and just stood there, trying to ignore his skin on her's. "Don't tell me it isn't hard for you, I've seen you."

"I never said it wasn't hard for me."

"Then I don't see the problem." He said simply, taking a step closer to her. She yanked her hand out of his grasp and took a small step forward, but didn't run.

"We can't get caught again, Scorpius. Our parents were upset when we were just a _rumor_. Imagine what would happen if we were caught red handed?"

"Then let's not get caught." He suggested, a little too quickly. Rose scoffed.

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't have gotten caught the first time. The castle has eyes everywhere." Someone could be watching them now, for all they knew.

"So lets go outside the castle." Rose was turned around before she knew it, her brow furrowed, looking up at him.

"What?" He grinned, and she had to look away. "What's outside of the castle?"

"The Forbidden Forest." Rose laughed and shook her head.

"And here I was, getting my hopes up. Why don't we just go tell the Headmistress that we were planning on assasinating her before we ran off to elope and form a crime fighting duo?" Scorpius didn't seem to be affected by the crazy notion. Instead, he took both of her hands in his. She hesitantly looked down at them, but didn't pull away like she knew she should.

"Rose." He spoke softly before taking another tiny step towards her, so that the only space between them was just big enough for their hands. "If you're sure that you can live without me, walk away now. I won't stop you, and I won't ever bother you again. You'll never see me." Her heart felt like it was being squeezed by body builders. "But, if it's the opposite...just follow me." He let her hands slip out of his and took a step back, giving her room to think. It took her all of five seconds.

"Let's go."

--

"I so did not look like a zombie." Rose objected, sitting up and half-heartedly glaring at the blonde. Scorpius rolled his eyes and pulled her back down.

"You're right, Rose."

It was well past midnight, and the two were laying on the cold ground beside each other, his arm wrapped around her. They hadn't done much besides kiss, neither really wanting to talk about the past weeks, or even the weeks to come. But they knew that time was lurking, that they would have to talk about it. They couldn't just keep finding different places to hide. It was a long time before they spoke again, each wrapped up in their own thoughts and trying to keep the happiness they both felt inside them.

"So," Rose sighed, but waited a minute before actually completing her thought, "What now?"

"Well," Scorpius blinked, sleepily, "We could always go with your earlier plan. I was never very fond of that woman." Rose intended to slap him with some sort of significance, but ended up just letting her hand fall on his chest.

"Seriously. We can't just keep hiding in the woods."

"You're right, we're graduating soon. Someone would catch on if a couple of alumni creep into the woods to make out."

"Be serious!" Rose said, poking him, but laughing in spite of her words.

"I dunno." He shrugged, letting his eyes close. "Sneaking around will probably be easier after we've graduated."

"How is it easier?" She asked, looking up at him as best she could. "There are more people at my house that care about where I am. Not like here where you can apparently sneak out of school and into the Forbidden Forest completely undetected."

"Hey." He objected, "Stumbling around in the dark so that the portraits can't see you is _not_ a task that can be accomplished easily."

"I bow to your greatness." Rose yawned, her voice dripping with sarcasm. He chuckled, disrupting Rose slightly from her resting spot on his chest. When he stopped, she snuggled in closer to him, ignoring the sensible part of her mind screaming at her to go back to the castle.

"I can't imagine it would be that hard sneaking out of your house. Just make something up." Rose pursed her lips.

"I can't lie to my parents." She paused, "Okay, _maybe_ my mum, but not my dad. I always feel so..._guilty_." She said the last word like she had a bad taste in her mouth.

"Well...maybe you don't have to lie? Just tell him you're going to study with a friend. I'll help you study." His offer was so innocent, it made Rose smile as she closed her eyes.

"Thanks..." Then her tone changed, "This is so _stupid_. We shouldn't have to sneak around!" Rose's words were meant to be harsh, but her fatigue dulled them. Scorpius absentmindedly started stroking her hair, and she settled down again. "I _love_ you."

"I love you too, Freckles." She wrinkled her nose, but smiled at the name.

"Maybe we _should_ just get married." The half-asleep redhead joked, "They couldn't ban a married couple from seeing each other."

Scorpius didn't say anything, but continued stroking her hair.

--

The sound of a hippogryff screeching is what woke them. Rose found herself curled on her side, with both of Scorpius' arms wrapped around her. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, and she bolted upright.

"Oh _merlin_," She groaned, suddenly realizing that she sat up too fast. Scorpius stretched out a hand to steady her as his eyes focused in the brightness of the forest. "We fell asleep!"

"Oh..._good_." Scorpius muttered grimly, rubbing his eye.

"We have to go -- what time is it even?" Rose stood up in the most graceful way that she could manage. Scorpius was slower to react as he looked at his watch.

"It's...noon." Rose stared at him, her face void of emotion.

"We are so dead." Scorpius shrugged and slowly stood up, grabbing Rose's hand in excuse to steady himself.

"Not yet." He smirked and pulled him close to her for a kiss. When they pulled away, she couldn't help but grin herself.

"Um.." He started, suddenly focused on something just above her head.

"What?"

"You have a few leaves in your hair." He made a face as he tried not to laugh, and began to pluck out the few leaves that he saw. It took Rose half of a second to start laughing, and for Scorpius to join in.

"No, but really, we're about to be killed." Rose said, her tone not nearly serious enough for the situation. Scorpius shrugged.

"Maybe they haven't noticed yet?" He suggested, "I know Al wouldn't rat me out, and I'm pretty sure the rest wouldn't care enough."

"Well, he might since you've missed what, three classes already?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Rose, it's Saturday." Her mouth opened to protest, but closed again as she blinked. She really should get a calender or something.

"Well...here's to chance." Rose muttered, pulling Scorpius' face down and capturing his lips in a kiss. He grinned as they started to walk back through the forest. Each of them knew that the chances of them getting away with their night out was fleeting, but neither really thought about it. The opening to the forest was just a few feet away when they really started to listen. They didn't hear a thing.

"We should probably split up." Rose whispered, squinting into the sunlight. Scorpius nodded in agreement. They had barely taken a step out of the forest when they heard a voice they could never forget.

"I hope you two enjoyed your little adventure." Headmistress Stroulger spoke from a few feet away, "It will be your last." The couple's eyes widened as they saw a few professors coming up behind her.

"Well, this isn't _so_ bad." Scorpius whispered so low that only Rose could hear. She looked up at him, incredulous, then looked back at the approaching professors.

"Neville's getting them." They heard Professor Ravenwood tell the intimidating woman staring at them. Rose didn't pay attention to the words, she just tried to sort out the faces in the small crowd. Professor Crisswell was there, trying to hide his amusement. When their eyes met, he gave Rose a small grin and a nod. Yes, he was _definitely_ a little too amused by the situation. She gave him a tentative half smile, just to be polite, though she really had bigger things to focus on. Though the temperature outside wasn't sweltering, Rose felt a clammy sweat coming on.

"Calm down just a little!" Rose heard her mother's voice coming from around the small gamekeeping hut that was close by. Rose's muted expression turned into that of complete horror.

"Get out of my way, Weasleys!" A nasty voice she recognized as Scorpius' dad shouted. Her heart froze. Did he just say..?

"Ron, please!" Her mother yelled, just as Rose saw her father round the corner. His expression was angry -- _furious_. Angrier than Rose ever thought him capable of being, but he wasn't looking at her just yet. His eyes were set on Scorpius as he stalked forwad at a rapid pace.

Quickly, Rose stepped in front of the blonde, fearing for his life. Her hands wrapped around Scorpius' forearms, behind her, securing him to some extent. Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, while Ron stopped a few feet from the couple, his expression painfully unreadable. Her mother was behind him, looking at him at first, then at her daughter. Rose couldn't understand her expression at first, either, but she thought she saw a small bit of remorse. For what, she didn't know. The air was frighteningly still, everyone's eyes on Rose, including Scorpius'. With a deep, shaky breath, Rose finally spoke.

"Dad...I can explain."

--

**Blahlalalah.**

**It's late, and I have class tomorrow.**

**Review for me, pleaseee?**


	9. The Secret's In The Telling

**Okay, so with all the short chapters I've been doing, I wanted to do a longer one.  
This one's pretty long, right?  
Well, I hope you like it.  
And I am so insanely happy about you guys giving me nearly sixty reviews!!  
I remember when this story only had, like, six.  
But...I'm greedy, so I'd like to persuade you to give me some more! ;DD  
As always, I would like to apologize for any typos/grammar errors/anything else.  
Hope you enjoy this one!  
**--

The Secret's In The Telling

_"Dad...I can explain."_

What a complete load of rubbish. Sure, Rose could explain _everything_. But none of the explanations would be received very well. "I snuck into the Forbidden Forest because your stupid, childish grudge was getting in the way of my secret, passionate romance and we fell asleep." Oh yes, that one would go over extremely well. Maybe the two could be buried together shortly afterwards?

It had taken every ounce of the couple's will power to stay together after Rose uttered those words. Each parent tried to snatch their own child away, and they just clung tighter to each other. It was not an easy battle, Rose would have lost a few seams in her vest if it had continued any longer. Thankfully, the Headmistress stepped in nearly as soon as it started. Mostly because Ron had pulled out his wand -- that probably didn't look very good.

Their day had started at noon and the arguing hadn't stopped roughly three hours later. Thankfully, they were already over the punishment part. Perhaps it's because both of the students came from fairly well distinguished families that the punishment was light. Or, maybe it was just because she realized that life with their families after this stunt was going to be hell? Who knows, maybe the woman grew a soul? Whatever it was, the two were greatful to just have detention up until graduation. Unfortunately, the Headmistress promised she would make sure the two served detention in seperate places. _And_ their free periods were taken away, instead they were forced to spend them in a semi-detention; helping out anywhere around the castle. Rose suspected the Library would suddenly need dusting, and the books reorganizing. The task would've been more daunting if she hadn't been threatened with Beauxbatons again. Thankfully, the Headmistress was able to talk the Weasleys out of it. Maybe the woman really did care for her students, deep down? Regardless, Rose owed her a child. Okay, well that's a little extreme. Maybe not.

"You can bring the parents back in." The Headmistress said dully, putting a hand to her temple and going to get some water a few steps away from her desk. At least Rose _thought_ it was water, but if it was any sort of adult beverage, she didn't blame her. Heck, she wanted some herself. The parents were forced to leave the room around half an hour ago -- they kept butting in to the Headmistress' discipline speech, and she just didn't seem to appreciate it.

"Rose." Scorpius whispered from the chair a few inches away from her's, he didn't look at her, "I have an idea."

"I'm all ears." She waited, eagerly and she leaned forward in her seat a little.

"Put up a fight, but go with what your parents say. Think about us when you get back to your dorm tonight, and if you can't stop after midnight, go to the classroom where all this started." Rose opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut as their parents made their entrance.

"Finally!" Draco said, in a rather nasty tone that Rose was getting accustomed to. "I would like to talk to my son now." The Headmistress nodded and gestured to a door on the right side of the room.

"You are welcome to do so in there, Mr. Malfoy." Then she turned her attention to the Weasleys, the two faces that Rose was not at all eager to see. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you may stay here. I will give you all some privacy." And without another word, she slipped out into the corridor. Rose yearned, desperately to go with her -- the one and only time that had ever happened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco walk swiftly to his son and grab his arm. She glanced at Scorpius just in time to see a disguised wink before he was pulled through the wooden door, so far away.

"Rose." Her mother's voice was calm, but Rose wasn't exactly feeling the same way.

"What is it, mother?" She _tried_ to keep her voice in check, but they couldn't have missed the hostility in her rhetorical question. "Don't tell me the great Hermione Granger-Weasley didn't see this one coming." The silence behind her was louder than anything she had ever experienced.

"Face us, please." Hermione said after a very long silence. Rose could hear yelling in the room that Scorpius and his father had disappeared into. Slowly, she turned to face her parents, crossing her arms and leaning against the desk behind her when she had. Her mother had an almost pained expression on her face, while her father wasn't looking at her at all. A small, sharp pain his Rose's chest, but she tried to shake it off.

"Why, Rose? After all those times I told you not to, _why_ did you still see that boy?" Her mother was speaking in a hushed tone, clearly wishing that her father was not standing right next to her. Obviously, this was the first he had ever heard of the Scorpius situation.

"You wanna know the _real_ reason mother, or do you want me to lie to dad?" She regretted the words as soon as they stained her lips. Her father's expression grew darker as he glared at the floor, and pain clearly spread across Hermione's face before she could recover.

"What has he _done_ to you?" She gaped at her mother.

"He hasn't done anything to me!"

"Then why are you acting like this?" Hermione was beginning to raise her voice.

"Because you two are being _completely_ insane!"

"How?" Her mother cried, her arms falling to her side. Rose mimicked the gesture.

"By ruining your daughter's life with your stupid, petty childhood grudges!"

"Rose Weasley, we are _only_ trying to protect you!"

"Protect me from _what_?" Rose yelled, getting close to completely losing her temper. "From falling in _love_? Well, too late mum. I already _have_!" Within a second of the words leaving her mouth, Rose wished that she could take them back. Her father, who had been little more than a statue before, had looked up from his glaring spot on the floor. His expression didn't really have a word to describe it...but it wasn't happy. And it made the pain in Rose's chest come back. A short silence followed as the three tried to soak in what was just said.

"No, Rose, you're just -- "

"Do _not_ tell me I'm confused, mother." Rose snapped, her eyes locked on Hermione's own.

"Don't talk to your mother like that, Rose." Her father's deep voice threw her off guard, but not as much as the way he said her name. He never just called her _Rose_. She was always _Rosie_, or something of the sort. The use of her actual name coming from his mouth shocked her into silence, only staring at her father in response. He didn't look away from her this time, and she so wished that he would. "Didn't you listen to any of the stories we told about that Malfoys? They're a _bad family_, Rose." She glared.

"Scorpius isn't his family, dad." He seemed hurt by her tone, which made Rose hurt even more.

"Rose." Her mother spoke up, softer this time. "You can't know that."

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?!" She gaped at her mother again. Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Language, Rose."

"Answer my question!" She yelled, getting close to losing it again.

"Rose...I'm sure he's a nice enough boy _now_, but with a father like his, he's destined to turn out the same way. And, even if he doesn't, he'll always be around those types of people. If you're with him, then you will be around them, too, and we don't want that, Rose! We love you too much for it!"

"Are you done with the self-righteous speech, mum?" Rose glared just past her parents, not able to actually look at them anymore.

"Rose!"

"No! That is the _stupidest_ reason that I've ever heard!"

"Rose, we're just trying to protect you."

"From what?" She shouted, "I love him, and he loves me!"

"You don't know that." Ron spoke up, his voice rough, "Boys this age don't love with their hearts." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, not feeling the time was very appropriate.

"You mean you didn't love _mum_ with your heart when you were this age?" His ears turned crimson like they always did. "That's not the same, Rose."

"_How_?!" She cried, her hands flying to her hair in the insanity of the situation. That's when she remembered what Scorpius had said. She was already in deep, how was she going to get to a complete turnaround at this point?

"What your father is _trying_ to say, Rose," Hermione spoke up, softly placing a hand on her husband's arm, "Is that you really don't know the boy very well -- "

"Well, it's all settled." Draco announced his presence into the room again, Scorpius trailing behind him.

"Go on." Hermione said dully, trying to keep her frustration in check.

"Tell them, Scorpius." Draco nudged his son forward, and Scorpius looked directly at Rose's parents.

"I don't love Rose. I was just playing around. I don't want to see her ever again." She knew the words weren't true, but they were so convincing, they hurt anyway. He looked at her, and suddenly realized that she should play along.

"What...what are you talking about?" Rose asked, her voice so weak, it broke at the last word.

"Just what I said, Weasley." He replied, his eyes void of emotion, but his voice much stronger than her's. "I don't love you." She felt tears well in her eyes, in spite of herself.

"I can't...believe -- " She was interrupted by her mother rushing to her side and pulling Rose into a hug. Most of her view was blocked by her mother's hug, but she did manage to see her father step between the two families.

"_Leave_." His voice was strained, like he said the word through gritted teeth. She didn't have to see Malfoy Sr. to know that he was smirking.

"Well, we should do this again sometime, Weasleys." Rose heard two sets of feet walking towards the exit.

"Ron." Hermione breathed a warning, Rose could only assume that her father had shown some sign of wanting to hit him. She couldn't blame her father. The door opened and closed, soon enough, there was only one small family. Not totally sure she could pull off the lie, she buried her face in her mother's shoulder.

"I can't believe I was so _stupid_!" Rose sobbed, and she felt her father's hand on her back. It wasn't difficult to cry harder after that. "And I had _just_ said all that bloody -- " Her words were interrupted by her mother's soothing shush. After a short while, she managed to choke out another, shorter sentence.

"I am so sorry."

Her parents didn't know that she was apologizing for something completely different.

--

Rose stayed in the office with her parents until nightfall. It wasn't much longer after Scorpius left, maybe a little over an hour. It felt like forever, though. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from all the crying she did. Every time she looked at her father's face, she would burst into another fit of hysterics. Finally, though, she managed to calm herself down. Their goodbyes would have been a nice family moment, if Rose hadn't been completely betraying their trust.

She wasn't sure just how much of the school knew what was going on, but she could imagine it was most of the student population. Half of the administrators had been looking for the couple, and she imagined that their parents didn't make a very quiet entrance. Tomorrow was going to be hell. If she lived through tonight, of course.

What did Scorpius mean when he said "and if you can't stop"? Rose _never_ stopped thinking about him. He was like some freak addiction she had, she saw his face every time she closed her eyes, and felt his arms around her when she was trying to fall asleep. She was sure the latter would only be fueled after last night when she actually _did_ fall asleep with his arms around her. That thought sent a painful sort of yearning through her. She didn't want that to be the last time it happened. She didn't want to be left with just a memory. She didn't have to think about it anymore.

The redhead had been stumbling up the stairs on the way to her dorm, when she suddenly stopped. Rose didn't need until midnight to decide. She would follow Scorpius anywhere he led her. Turning a little quicker than she probably should have, Rose began stumbling back down the steps. Her mind was on auto pilot, her feet knowing the way by themselves. The corridors were dark, and Rose had to rely on pure instinct to find her way. She wouldn't pull out her wand -- the portraits were little snitches. After seven years wandering around in the castle, a girl could get pretty good at finding her way.

Moonlight was streaming in through the window of the empty classroom as Rose walked in, quietly. It cast the room in a peaceful blue color, and for once that day, she felt that she could actually think -- _breathe_ again. Why, of all places, could she breathe easier in such a place? It was where all the trouble started...Right? Her brow furrowed as she set her bag down. She was really getting sick of carrying it. The thing had been an inconvenience, though she had to hold some appreciation for it. It had ripped just in time. Hooray for badly worn down muggle bags!

She wasn't sure what time it was, just that she had a wait ahead of her. Slowly, she walked over to the teacher's deserted desk and pulled herself up on it. Her eyelids were heavy, though she was sure that she could stay up for hours more had it been a regular day. Tucking her skirt between her legs so that she was at least a little decent, Rose pulled her knees up close to her face and rested her head on them. How had her life gotten so insane? Last year she was focused. She was going to be a Healer, and romance was always in the backseat. Well, Rose still wanted to be a Healer, but romance was _definitely_ not in the backseat. In fact, it was driving. She wondered what her life would be like if her family didn't hate Scorpius'. Would it be different? Would she still love him the way she did? She couldn't imagine not. The boy had suddenly dropped a bomb into her life, and he had her heart at his disposal. The thought made her feel uncomfortable and safe at the same time. She trusted him with everything, she knew he would never do anything to hurt her. Minus what he said earlier -- that was necessary. She wasn't sure _why_ it was necessary, but she trusted him. It was crazy, Rose had never trusted anyone so completely in her life. Dom and Al she trusted -- Roxanne, too. But it was _nothing_ like this. Everything surrounding Scorpius just felt so..._new_, exciting!

It felt sad at the same time. She was being forced to choose between her family and the person that she was certain she loved. Rose had never been so sure of anything as she was of her love for Scorpius. And that's saying something, since Rose was usually positive about everything that she did. But her time with Scorpius came with a price tag. Her family -- her parents, mainly. Beside them, what would Dom think of her now? Roxanne and Albus, too. Had Scorpius told Al anything? She had lied to Rox and Dom so many times...would they understand? If they didn't, would they forgive her? Oh, why couldn't she have just told them the truth? Tears started stinging her eyes, and she squeezed them shut. She had done enough crying already -- why couldn't they just stop? Then her father's expressions from the previous part of the day sprung to her mind, and the words she had said. Had she _really_ said all those things to her parents? She loved her parents. But the answer stuck out in her mind, clear as daylight. She had meant every single thing that she had said, and so much more that went left unsaid. What was going to happen now? Any road she was going to take, she knew it had to include Scorpius. And she knew he had to be close. Would she be able to force her parents into understanding? Would it be better if she just ran away somewhere now?

Not being able to control herself any longer, the sobs broke out, quietly and her freckled cheeks were soon stained with fresh tears. She felt helpless and pathetic, the same way she always did when she cried. Crying didn't help, it didn't _solve_ anything. But she had never felt so completely and utterly helpless before. No amount of logic could fix this for her. They didn't teach this kind of subject in school.

"Why are you crying?" A soft voice spoke from behind her. She would have jumped if she hadn't immediately recognized the voice.

"I'm not crying." She didn't jerk her head up and glare the way she wished she could, the way she did that day they first met. Instead, she kept her head down and tried very miserably to cease her sobbing. Rose hadn't heard him come in, but she did hear him walk to her. At first, her mind resisted the thought of his touch. Rose didn't like crying, but what she disliked even more was doing it in front of someone. But, when he reached out his hands and put them on her shoulders, it took her all of two seconds to lean forward into his chest. Gently, he lifted Rose off the desk, and sat down with her in his lap. She wanted to stop crying, but she couldn't. Rose had lost control of her tears. Scorpius didn't say anything, just held her close to him, sometimes running a soothing hand across her back of down her arm. After what felt like an eternity to her, she was able to get her sobs under control. Her breathing was still coming in uneven hiccups, but she felt that she could control her emotions for the time being. The redhead wiped her tears with the hem of her robes, but Scorpius didn't move. He just continued to hold her, looking at her all the while.

"I'm sorry about what I said," He finally spoke, his voice gentle, "You know I didn't mean any of it." Rose was already shaking her head.

"That's not what that was about." Her battered breathing allowed her to get out. They were silent, Scorpius waiting for her to continue.

"Can you tell me?" He asked, obviously fearing another mini breakout. She laughed once, without any real humor.

"It's just a combination of everything, I guess." He nodded, but didn't say anything. She knew that she owed him a better explanation than that. With a deep breath, unsteady because of the crying, she took one of the blonde's hands and held it. "I just realized that, if I want to be with you...it's going to compromise my relationship with the rest of my family." He nodded and shifted her position so that she was sitting next to him on the desk, his hand still in her's.

"And where does that leave us?" He asked seeming as though he was trying to detach himself from the situation.

"Without families?" She attempted to smile up at him, but it really turned out to be more of a grimace. The light had returned to her eyes, and it didn't go without notice. He gazed at Rose for a long moment, surprise mixed in with other emotions was clear across his face.

"Rose." He paused, trying to think how to form his thought into words, "I can't ask you to give up your family." She shrugged.

"You don't have to."

"But, Rose -- "

"If they can't accept you, then they'll just have to deal with not having me around." Her voice was calmer now, and her breathing was returning to normal. They were silent for a while, Scorpius just gazing at the redhead. "What about your dad." It was his turn to shrug.

"He'll come around." Rose grimaced at the thought of his father sitting at home, completely by himself. At least her parents had each other and Hugo. Not to mention the rest of the clan. But who did his father have? Were Scorpius' grandparents even still alive? Scorpius apparently noticed her hesitation. "Trust me, it won't take him long to come around. And he's by himself during the school year."

"But I just feel bad that he's going to be all alone." She whispered.

"After the way he acted today, you're going to give him your pity?" He asked, a little surprised. She shrugged, and he chuckled a little. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." The two were comfortable in silence once again, each just enjoying the warmth of the other's hand.

"So, you're pretty early." Scorpius mentioned, grinning a little.

"What can I say? I have a thing for blondes." She joked, though it wasn't exactly one that she was proud of. It made Scorpius laugh a little, though, before he brought his lips down to her's. The kiss wasn't filled with quite so much lust as their previous ones. She liked those, too, but this particular one seemed so much more...meaningful. Like he was actually trying to say something without actual words. It was sweet and soft, not too short, but not absurdly long. His hands stayed in decent places, one cupping her cheek and the other resting on one of her shoulders. When they broke apart, she couldn't help but smile. With a small sigh, Scorpius pulled Rose closer to him so that her head was resting on his chest. The two must have been silent for almost half an hour before Rose spoke again.

"So, I guess we're going to need a game plan." She suggested, quietly. Scorpius didn't say anything for a moment.

"You remember the idea you came up with the other day?" He asked, seeming to be on a completely different subject. She raised her eyebrow.

"The one about killing the Headmistress? I think we should leave her alone -- she kind of saved us today. In her own, not-very-friendly way."

"True. But that wasn't the part I was talking about."

"You want to become a crime fighting duo?" She asked, confused. He laughed.

"Maybe in a few years, but that's not the part I was talking about." She thought for a moment, then her eyes went as round as half dollars. Quickly, she sat up to look at Scorpius.

"You want to..." Rose couldn't get the word out.

"I can't think of anyone else that I would rather be with." He said simply.

"But, Scorpius..." She choked, still having trouble wrapping her head around the idea. "We're only seventeen!"

"Legal adults in the Wizarding World."

"But where would we go?"

"There's a chapel in the Wizarding section of Wales that we could go to. They're not nosey, and they wouldn't contact our parents or anything."

"But...money?" Her head was starting to spin.

"My mother left a small fortune to me in her will. I got it when I turned seventeen, but I haven't spent any of it. Not to mention all the money I'll be getting for graduation." He was being so calm about the whole thing.

"But..." She was suddenly breathless again, wishing she could think of a proper question. He touched her cheek, making her look at him.

"Rose, I want you to think about this. If there is any doubt in your mind that I'm not the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with, say it now. If you need more time to think about it, just tell me. I don't want you to think this is the only way we can be together." She had to think for a moment before she could say anything.

"This is what you want?" She asked, tentatively.

"More than anything." His words were heavy, but his tone was simple.

"And you're sure?"

"I have never been more sure in my life." He assured her. "But it doesn't matter how _I_ feel. How do _you_ feel?" She looked away from him for a long moment, her hand still in his. They were young, they didn't know what they were doing, uncertainty of massive proportions loomed in that future.

_Their_ future. Rose finally opened her mouth to speak.

"I feel like..." She breathed, then looked back at Scorpius with a smile on her face, "This isn't a very traditional proposal." Rose had never seen him smile so big before as he got up from the desk, pulled something from his pocket and got down on one knee. When he opened the box, Rose saw the most beautiful ring that she had ever seen. A silver band with a simple, delicate looking diamond in it. Her mouth fell open a little.

"Rose Lynn Weasley," He spoke clearly but softly in the quiet classroom, "I have never though myself capable of loving someone as much as I love you. And I know that we've had our share of obstacles already, but I want you to know that I will never hurt you, and I will never leave you. I love you. Will you marry me?" If a warm tear hadn't landed on Rose's hand, she wouldn't have noticed that she was crying again. Silently cursing in her head, she wiped the tears away and gazed at Scorpius, trying to save the image of him like that.

"Yes."

--

**Reviews, please?  
I really want to know what you think! ;D**


	10. Can't Take It In

**So yeah...hey xD**

**It's been a while, right?  
DON'T HATE ME.**

**Life gets like that sometimes, but I will do my best to make sure**

**that it doesn't happen again...or at least not for such a long period**

**of time. So, if you're not sure what's going on anymore...**

**Go back and read the chapters! ;P**

**They won't take that long.**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy it!**

----

Can't Take It In

_"Will you marry me?"_

_"Yes."_

Rose's eyes fluttered open in the dim, mid-morning light. She slowly pulled her hands over her head to stretch, and it got dark. That's when she realized that she had pulled the comfortor over her face. With a small, quiet laugh, she smiled. It was then that she noticed how abnormally happy she was for it being early in the morning. Usually that only happened when she had a really great dream. Her smile faded.

Was last night just a dream?

Quickly, with the cover still over her head, she found the delicate silver chain that hung around her neck and pulled it from underneath her shirt. Even in the dim light, she saw the sparkle of her engagement ring. Well, technically it was the Greengrass family engagement ring. Scorpius' mother had just one sister, and she never had children. When her mother had died, the ring went to Scorpius. The ring had been in the family for as long as anyone could remember. Rose nearly started crying again when he told her all of that, but she stopped herself. There had been _more _than enough tears yesterday, and this was a happy occasion.

Also, a nerve wracking one. And she couldn't help but imagine the great Draco Malfoy's face when he realized that his precious son was giving a pureblood family heirloom to a half blood. Really, the whole thing just got confusing. She was a halfblood...even though both of her parents were technically full of magic. Her father's side was completely pureblooded -- by accident, she was sure. She'd never met a Weasley that hated Muggles. Obviously her mother's side of the family were all Muggles, as far as Rose knew...but she still didn't completely understand the term "halfblood" -- "pureblood" was pretty cut and dry. Well, the whole thing was just stupid and outdated, anyway.

Still...anything could happen in two weeks! Give or take a few days, obviously. Rose wasn't counting them anymore. She and Scorpius had been talking until the wee hours of the morning about their "plan". Which really wasn't so elaborate. They would act as they would if the events in the Headmistress' Office had been true. Rose would act bitter and heart broken, Scorpius would act like a complete jerk. It may be a little hard, considering their love for one another just completely exploded, and they both basically wanted to consumate the marriage right _then_...but they both had their eyes on the prize. The light at the end of the tunnel. Their wedding day. How strange it was for Rose to think of that.

She had never been one of those silly little girls that dreamed of the big, fancy wedding. She supposed that was a good thing, considering her circumstance. The wedding chapel that Scorpius told her about didn't really sound like some romantic castle in the hills of Scotland or something. And, before anyone questions that brief wedding idea -- know that it was not Rose's. She _does_ have a few very girly cousins that like to talk in high pitched, dreamy voices any time they're around each other. The only thing that Rose ever really thought about was...well, the guy. How would she be able to find someone that loved her completely, for everything that she was? Loud, sarcastic, mood swings -- _everything_? It would take _years_ for her to find someone like that, if such a man even existed!

Funny to think that those were her thoughts just last summer, and this coming summer, she would be a wife. A _wife_! The thought was making her head spin. The good kind of spin, not the "I-really-wish-I-hadn't-gotten-on-this-rollercoaster" kind of spin. Rose played with the ring, twirling it between her fingers, putting it directly in a small beam of sunlight that penetrated her covers, and at last, she slipped it on her ring finger. It had some sort of enchantment on it, adjusting itself to the woman's finger. Fit like a glove. Those purebloods were good for something. (Besides producing some very beautiful offspring..._sometimes_. We won't plunge in to the incest.)

With a sigh, she slipped the ring back on the chain and hid it underneath her shirt again. Slowly, she brought the cover away from her face and yawned. That's when she heard the bathroom door open and saw her cousin step into the light of the dorm. Both of the girls froze.

"Rose!" Dom whispered almost urgently after a few moments of surprise. She clutched at her bathrobe and rushed to her bed that sat right next to Rose's, her eyes sweeping the room feverishly.

"Listen, Dom -- " She started, getting ready to apologize for lying to the girl.

"I am _so sorry_!" Dom gushed, interrupting her cousin. Rose blinked for a moment, then her brow furrowed.

"For what?" The blonde got a guilty look on her face.

"It's my fault you got caught!" She cried, running her fingers through her wet hair. "I was asking Professor Ravenwood about the Potions essay I turned in, then he asked where you were -- I had no idea he was going to send a search party out! But I _was_ really worried about you, you know, so I didn't put up that much of a fight -- not that I could stop him anyway. And then they found out that Malfoy had been missing too and I was _so_ sorry then, because -- "

"Woah! Dom!" Rose interrupted, putting a hand out, "I just woke up, could you slow it down?"

"Sorry." She grinned a little, but her eyes were still cautious, as if she was expecting some huge burst of emotion from her cousin. When it didn't happen, she spoke again. "Wait...you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not."

"But it's my fault that everyone's talking about you now!" Rose bit her bottom lip in concern.

"What are they saying?" Dom didn't answer right away.

"That...Malfoy was just playing around with you. He said it was a bet, to get you to fall in love with him. Which, Merlin knows, is _complete_ rubbish. Malfoy's never had a girlfriend to last more than a week -- "

"Did he say I did?"

"What?" Dom asked, confused by where her own rant had been going.

"Did he tell anyone that I said I loved him?"

"No." Dom's face was suddenly sad and concerned. "Did you?" Rose scrunched up her brow.

"_Hell_ no!"

--

She was not looking forward to lunch.

Rose and Dom had already slept through breakfast, and by the time Rose was showered and ready, it was noon. Apparently when a person stays up until the God forsaken hours of the early morning, their internal clock gets thrown off -- it was a lot later than Rose thought. The corridors were dead silent as the cousins walked in the direction of the Great Hall. She had on her composed battle face of bitterness. She was ready for this. She could do this. She knew she could.

If she didn't jump the boy on sight.

Forget a dent in her reputation, that would be solved as soon as word got out they were married. The only thing she was concerned about was that she would do something stupid and ruin their plan. She had to keep her eyes on the prize....Okay, well, since Scorpius kind of _is_ the prize, that expression didn't really apply. Regardless, she had to be careful.

"You sure you wanna do this, Red?" Dom asked, looking sideways at her cousin, "It's not gonna be pretty."

"Can't be worse than when they thought I was pregnant." Rose muttered, glaring at a few third years. The blonde pressed her lips together and shrugged, obviously the best agreement that Rose was going to get. "Okay, then..." She breathed, deeply, "Guess we can't stand in the corridor forever." Part of her tone was hopeful, but Dom elbowed her in the side, gently.

"Let's go get some food, I know you're starving."

"Right...let's go." Rose appreciated what her cousin was trying to do, focusing their thoughts on food rather than the social..._awkwardness_ that was about to ensue. It still didn't help too much -- the thought of food made her stomach do a few more loops around the intestinal rollcoaster that occupied her insides. After taking another deep breath, Rose stepped in the direction of the Great Hall, her cousin not a split second behind her.

-----

The awkward scene that Rose had imagined awaiting her in the Great Hall had been somewhat of an...well, dramatic _understatement_. Normally her peers were a little more _discreet_ when it came to talking behind someone's back. Not this time, no, not at all. As soon as she and Dominique walked through the doorway, everyone stopped talking for a moment, and a very unsettling hush fell across each table. With one swift glance at the Slytherin table, she saw Scorpius meet her eyes for the slightest moment before he seemed to get into character, elbowing one of his fellow snakes and throwing out some kind of macho grin. She would have to punish him for that one later...but it helped her get into character. Somehow, a sloppy, over confident grin plastered itself on her lips. Then, her walk turned in to something of a stride. Where did all of her confidence come from, and how could she call on it every time she needed it? As surprised as she was at herself, Dom seemed to be that much _less_ surprised. The whole thing felt very _familiar_ to Rose, and she wasn't really too sure why it did. This confidence...it was something she hadn't felt in a very long time, or so it seemed. The last time she felt something like it, was probably the year before -- before all of the dramatics began putting her emotions through the ringer. One would think that her emotions are still in the ringer...maybe it's just because she and Scorpius had never had a real plan before, and now they do? It's not exactly a solid, fool proof plan...that being said, a lot of fools could get in the way and ruin the whole thing. And, yes, most of the fools she thought about, she was actually related to. The plan was more of a raft than a sail boat, but a raft is better than nothing when you're stuck in deep waters, right? Oh, now she was thinking of _sailing_ comparisons. Rose pushed all of her jumbled thoughts away as she walked very confidently over to her usual seat at the Gryffindor table. The silence had been replaced by hushed whispers, and others continuing their own conversations. The others she would love to thank. There were always the rare few that didn't care about a stupid piece of gossip.

"Morning Dom, Rose." Roxanne said as she scooted next to her cousins, looking a little nervously at Rose.

"Mornin' Rox." Rose said, already biting into a large, puffy roll. The blonde only nodded her head as she dove for a plate of ham. "Geez, Dom. Let 'em kill it, first." Roxanne bit her lip, trying not to laugh.

"So...you're okay, then?" She asked Rose, who just stared at her for a moment.

"Uh...yeah?" Was her response, as if she had no idea what was going on. Roxanne looked a little irritated.

"You know what they're saying about you!" Rose just stared.

"About you and Malfoy?" She continued, almost in a whisper. Apparently she became aware that everyone remotely close to them was trying to listen in on the conversation. Rose managed to look genuinely surprised, widening her eyes a little bit before responding.

"Ohh!" She realized, acting rather well, she thought, "You mean that he tried to catch me in the broom closet the other day, and I kicked him in no man's land...or no _woman's_ land?" Rose winked as her cousin's mouth fell open. "What?" The redhead asked, pretending to be puzzled.

"That's not what everyone else is saying!" Roxanne continued, her voice still hushed, but urgent.

"...Well, what are they saying?" Rose asked, her expression still a little vacant. Roxanne looked at her, her face incredulous.

"They're saying -- " The girl's voice came out louder then she intended, and she paused for a moment before whispering again, "They're saying that Malfoy was trying to seduce you or something, for a dare -- he says that he did!" Her cousin's face was worried. It took Rose a moment to pretend to piece everything together before she furrowed her brow and let out a humorless laugh.

"And everyone believed him?" She was answered by Roxanne's silence and a few Hufflepuffs turning around, their heads hung a little low. "Oh, come _on_! Really now, guys? Me and -- _gross_! Wow, you go to school in one place for seven years, you'd think people would know a _little_ bit about you."

"So it's really not true, then?" Roxanne asked, her tone soft and a little apologetic.

"No!" Rose practically yelled, her expression clearly appalled.

"Then why were you both in the Forbidden Forrest yesterday?" Molly, Rose's most _beloved _cousin, asked from a few feet down the Gryffindor table. Of course she would ask the one question Rose had failed to think about.

"It's called, running away, kinks!" Rose said as she stood up and snatched another roll off of the table. "Girls sometimes have to do it when a boy _throws_ himself at her, but of course you'd know nothing about that!" The comment obviously did not earn her very many points back from a few of her family members, but as if she cared at that point. It's not like they had proven themselves very useful after a few recent events. Families shouldn't have cliques. And one would think that Rose's _brother_ should at least be in _her_ clique. Then again, she had so many cousins, the lines of immediate family were blurred. Albus felt more like her brother than Hugo did. Rose praised her Grandma Weasley for popping out all those kids, but she doubted she could do it.

"I've got some assignments to do, catch up with you later, Dom." A salute was all she got in response before Rose marched back towards the direction of her dormitory. For a moment, she thought that she was close to freedom. She had made her appearance in the aftermath, deflected all the rumors, and now she was going to storm off like she always did, every time another rumor popped up about her. The more she thought about it like that, the more it sounded like some kind of sick routine. A normal person did not have a routine for deflecting rumors about them, did they? It wasn't as if she were some socialite or a rock star...she would think about that later. Now, she had her eyes set in front of her, and she was holding her breath. She was _so close_ to being in the clear. Too bad for Rose, Scorpius seemed to have been trying the same thing. Their paths nearly collided, and this time it was even harder not to notice that everyone was looking at them. What had Rose a little bit more concerned, though, was that she was finding it very hard not to quite literally _jump_ on top of the blonde in front of her.

"Just can't keep away from me, can you, Freckles?" Scorpius said after a brief pause, his signature smirk was neatly painted on his lips. A few months ago, Rose would've wanted to punched him in the mouth...now she was having other thoughts about his mouth. Instead, she folded her arms in front of her and glared up at the boy.

"Haven't caused me enough trouble already this morning, blondie?" She asked simply, which only caused Scorpius to smirk a little wider. Rose was sure he was feeling the special kind of tension behind the arguement just as strongely as she was feeling it.

"Oh, don't hurt my feelings, Freckles. You know you enjoyed yourself the other night..." For a moment, Rose caught a brief glimpse of mischeif in the boy's eye. She glared harder, trying to fight back the grin that wanted to come out.

"You mean when you lost some precious family jewels? Oh, you know I enjoyed that."

"I was thinking of some different kind of jewels..." Before Rose could respond, Scorpius was already walking towards the door, but before he got too far, he tried to flip the back of her skirt up, and Rose automatically punched him in the jaw before stalking back to her dormitory.

Mission accomplished...or at least, that's what she was hoping for, anyway.

-----

_I will not punch Scorpius Malfoy, I will not punch Scorpius Malfoy, I will not punch Scorpius Malfoy_

It seemed like the millionth time that Rose Weasley had written those words. At one point during her third year, she swore that she could hear them in her dreams. And yet, there she was yet again, writing those same lines. Oh, how much ink and quils she had wasted sitting in detention. It was really quite a shame. Those things could be put to better use. Instead, she was wasting them, writing stupid _promises_ that she had no intention of ever keeping. If Scorpius did something that deserved a punch, she was going to give it to him! No one else would. The world should really _thank_ her instead of punish her. If she wasn't there to snap that charming boy back into reality, who knows how stuck up he would be? Yes, Rose was doing the world a great favor.

The two were supposed to have detention up until graduation, anyway. Rose was just thankful that this assignment had nothing to do with dust. She swore that there was no mucus left in her body now, it was replaced by dust. Earlier that day, she was literally attacked by a dust bunny. It was alive, somehow. Magical dust bunnies...who knew? Still, it was a bit of a wet quilt, having to write lines on the weekend. She could think of quite a few other activities that she'd rather be doing.

"Alright, Miss Weasley. I think that's enough for tonight." Professor Crisswell said, his eyes still on the book in front of him. "Just leave your assignment on your desk and _try_ to let the words sink in this time?"

"Will do, Professor." Rose grinned. That was always her response when he said that. The older man didn't even look up from his page, just smirked and slowly shook his head. He could try and pretend that she was a hassle all he wanted. She still knew that he couldn't resist the Rose Weasley charm! She couldn't help but think that he had a little something for spunky girls back in his day...not that she thought he saw her in that way. He was definitely a married man...and definitely more of a mentor type. Rose allowed herself to think about not seeing him every day...but that didn't last long. She didn't like to think of the negative future. Only the positive. Scorpius, wedding bells, happy. That's all she thought of as she walked out the door and down what had become her favorite corridor. The two lovebirds decided to pick a different classroom then the one they had previously met in, for obvious reasons. Now, smart people would stay away from the person they were going to run off with in less than two weeks. Then again, smart people mixed with teenage love don't always go hand in hand. So, they had to be cautious...they just knew that they couldn't stay away from each other any longer then they had to.

The corridors were dark and quiet as Rose silently stepped along. She wasn't carrying her bag, since she didn't really need it. It was the weekend, and she was in the library for most of the day...and she wasn't studying. She was, of course, dusting the shelves. The task doesn't seem like it should be emotionally scarring at all, but then again...dust bunnies. With a shudder, Rose quickened her pace. The corridors were a little frightening at night, when you were by yourself. Hogwarts was a historical place...a lot of people died there. Not that Rose was afraid of ghosts, that would be stupid, she could handle ghosts. Most of them were friendly, anyway. What she didn't like was the idea that people had died there. It gave her the creeps, and made her paranoid. She kept looking over her shoulder, as if she were expecting to see some corpse laying there. Ghosts, like the rest of Hogwarts, she had encountered. Zombies? Completely different story.

_Shut up, Rose!_ She yelled at herself before she could get too riled up. One of the worst feelings in the world had to be when you didn't feel like you were safe, like someone was watching you. Finally, she reached the door and flung it open before stepping inside. She tried to calm herself down before she started shaking, until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. Rose let out a small shriek and starting trying to push away, not thinking straight.

"Woah, woah, Freckles!" Scorpius said, letting his arms fall back to his side and inspecting the redhead, clearly concerned. "What's wrong, are you alright?"

Instantly, Rose felt like an idiot. She wasn't expecting Scorpius to be there already, he had detention as well. Maybe Professor Crisswell didn't let her go as early as she thought he had.

"Oh my -- " Rose groaned as she burried her face in her hands. She felt Scorpius slowly wrap his arms around her again, and she rested against his chest. "I am so sorry." She mumbled, letting her hands fall away from her face.

"Rose, what happened?" He asked, his voice soft and still concerned.

"Absolutely nothing." She let out a short laugh, still trying not to feel like a total idiot. He laughed softly and brought his hands up to her face.

"Well it had to be _something_. I've never seen you like that before." He smiled down at her, still waiting for an answer. She really wished that he would just forget about it, so she wouldn't have to tell him. Rose didn't like feeling any kind of weak, and this was...pretty weak. She just scared herself. How old was she, four?

"I just...freaked myself out." She shrugged, turning away from the blonde and walking over towards the window. She didn't have to look at him to know that he was making a face.

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know." She sighed, really wishing that he would drop it, "I just...do that, sometimes, when I'm alone. I'm not really..._good_ at being alone." And, as stupid as it sounds, it couldn't be more true. Every time Rose was ever alone in her life, something was wrong. She had done something terrible to make her father upset, which really didn't happen, and he wouldn't talk to her. Mainly when her problem started was when she ran away for a few days. She and her mother got in a fight, and she ran out into the woods. A person could go crazy in the woods if they were by themselves, Rose was sure of it. Ever since then, that was the only thing that terrified her -- being alone. She didn't hear him, but she felt him come up behind her and try to hold her against him again.

"No, forget it!" Rose waved him away, stepping back to the abandoned teacher's desk. "I'm fine, let's just forget it." She forced her tone to lighten, even though she really just wanted to be in her bed. He laughed a little, and Rose slightly surprised at how genuine the sound was. She looked up to see him smiling at her.

"Will you just let me hold you?" He asked, taking a few steps towards her. Still surprised, she couldn't do anything but stare as he slowly closed the distance between them and, for the millionth time that night, wrapped his arms around her. This time, she didn't even think about pulling away. She savored the feeling, while trying to identify it at the same time. It was a feeling quite similar to love...or maybe it was just fueled by love? Whatever fear or panic she had when she entered the room, she could feel it slowly start to fade away from her body. She concentrated on how warm she felt up against him, and how she could swear that she heard his heart beat. She felt...safe?

After what felt like forever, Scorpius pulled back a little to look down at her. He didn't say anything, he just kissed her head and raised one hand to stroke her hair.

"I feel like an idiot." She muttered into his chest.

"You're not an idiot." Scorpius laughed.

"I'm like the kid that was afraid of their own shadow."

"No you're not." He said, his tone still gentle, as he took a little step back, keeping his hands on her arms. "We all have things that scare us...your's is just your overactive imagination."

Rose considered that a moment before realizing that he was completely right. And she figured...if the only thing that could freak her out that badly was herself, she wasn't too much of a wimp. That's what she was going to tell herself, anyway.

"What about you, then? What scares you?" Rose asked, looking up at him. He shrugged, still smiling.

"Same as every man, I guess...Not being able to keep the woman I love safe." He grinned before planting a soft kiss on her lips. She had her own grin as he pulled away.

"Woman, huh?" The word still seemed foreign to her, and out of context when she was put in the same sentence. She was just seventeen, and used to being called "young lady" before "woman". His grin turned into more of a smirk, as his hands fell down to her hips.

"Well...you will be soon enough, I guess." His words were filled with so much suggestion that it made Rose's mouth fall open, and she was thankful that the dim light could hide her blush.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone, "Are you referring to what I _think_ you are referring to?" He laughed and scooped her up onto the desk with a little too much ease. Instead of an answer, he just burried his hands in her hair and pressed his lips to her's again. Rose was sure that he could feel the unnatural warmth of the blush on her face. She was sure of this, because she could tell he was grinning into their kiss. Funny how she used to hate his grin so much, but in more recent days, it drove her crazy in a much different way. But the suggestion _did_ bring up a very important question. _Rose_ wasn't exactly a woman yet, but had Scorpius...? There were rumors, of course, but nothing ever concrete. And Rose, with all of her recent experience with rumors, knew better than to trust them. As the two broke the kiss for air, she took that as an opportunity. A very _awkward_ opportunity that she _really_ would rather not have to take, but, considering they were supposed to be spending the rest of their lives together...she figured it was something they might should address.

"Alright, blondie." She teased, tangling her fingers in his hair for a change, "What about you?"

"What about me?" He asked before stealing another kiss. Rose laughed and pushed him back, leaving a hand on his chest. She was really hoping that he would catch on and that she really wouldn't have to spell out the question for him. No such luck, she guessed, since he only stared at her with a questioning look.

"Will..._you_ be soon enough?" She asked, uncomfortabley shifting her weight and looking away, "Or...are you..._already_?" There, it was out in the open, she was sure that he caught on after that. He would have to be a complete idiot not to catch on, and she was pretty sure that he wasn't a _complete_ idiot. From what she could remember, he usually did pretty well in school. Not that she ever paid much attention to his _grades_. Cautiously, she peeked back at his face, intending to look away, but the expression she found there kept her eyes glued and her face red. He was just staring at her, a very amused smirk on his face.

"I never noticed how cute you were when you get embarrassed."

"Shut up!" Rose said, awkwardly, as she tried to push him away and hide her face. Her attempts were futile as he laughed and grabbed her wrists. Still, she turned her face away, trying as always to hide her blush. Darn fair skin. When she stopped flailing her arms, he slowly brought his hands up to her face and smiled before kissing her forehead.

"I'm sorry, it was too easy." He said, and Rose couldn't help but grin and laugh as she tried to push him away again. This time, he just pulled her off the desk and held her against him. "Let's just say," He started, a laugh in his voice, "That I've tried to lead by your example in that area."

Rose tilted her head to look up at him, her face questioning. It was no secret that Rose didn't like the idea of promiscuous sex, or random hook ups, or...really any kind of sex outside of wedlock. It wasn't even that she was trying to be a prude, or anything, she couldn't help it! Just the thought of it made her feel like throwing up, it's not like her parents tried to scare her away from the subject, like she's heard of some parents trying to do. No, when she was fourteen, her parents tried to sit her down and be "cool parents", that wanted to talk to her about it, and wanted her to feel comfortable with her confiding in them. Just imagine how _un_comfortable her father looked. Rose, quite disgusted and horrified as she was, quickly removed herself from the situation. Just the thought of the word made her think of...monkeys. Just think about it. Once, she confided in Dom that she might have a fear of intimacy. She would still believe that, if it hadn't been for Scorpius...he definitely made her think about that subject in a different light, which she guessed was how it should be? He was her fiance...even though the word was still quite surreal in her mind, she could still realize that he was the one she was meant to _be_ with. In more ways than one. Rose smiled a little, before questioning him again.

"..._Tried_?" She asked, an eyebrow raising. With a laugh, he kissed her head again, and that time, it sent butterflies through her stomach.

"Succeeded." Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around him as well. The two of them just stood there for a long while, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Rose was trying to fight back bewilderment. She was about to completely turn her life upside down...but for some reason, she had never felt happier in her life?

"I better get you back to bed." Scorpius started as the two separated, instantly, he crinkled his nose and shut his eyes while Rose burried her mouth in her hands, trying to contain her laughter. In the meantime, Scorpius brought his own hand up to cover his eyes.

"Guess I know what _you_ were thinking about." She joked after she got a better handle on her laughter. Scorpius' hand fell back to his side and he had a devilish look on his face. Rose stopped laughing and just stared at him for a moment. "Don't -- "

But it was too late, Scorpius scooped her up and placed her on the desk again before tickling her ribcage. Between being tickled, trying to contol her laughter, and trying to tell him to stop, Rose had her hands full. The halls were silent, and the slightest loud noise could tip off a nosey portrait wandering around past their bedtime. After a few seconds of that, Scorpius pulled her upright, since she had fallen backwards, trying to get away from him. Rose had a few tears stuck on her cheeks from trying to hold the laughter in, and she was still trying to catch her breath when Scorpius kissed her once again. When he pulled away, her breathing was still a little uneven as he wiped away the remaining tears.

"You jerk." Rose said, giving him a breathless laugh. He chuckled himself before pulling her off the desk again, and she suddenly felt like she thought a doll might.

"It's getting late, I'll walk you back." He said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him, clearly curious, but he didn't return her gaze. The two had always split up half way to their dorms, for obvious reasons. As they peeked through the door, to see if the coast was clear, she had to come to the realization that he was just looking out for her, that he didn't want her to freak herself out again. Rose could feel tears coming on, but she fought them back. It was then that she got a glimpse of what marriage might be like. Always looking out for each other, always being there for the other one, going out of their way to make sure that the other is okay.

She would have to get on that.

------

**So...how did you think it was?  
Am I a little rusty, maybe?  
Leave me a reviews, loves!**


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